7th Wheel
by MeetMeAtTheQuarry
Summary: AU where the paladins are paired up to go to different locations to retrieve rare and valuable crystals that well help Voltron grow stronger in order to defeat Zarkon. But along the way, something unexpected happens and the paladins discover something that they've never noticed about one of their teammates.
1. chapter 1

**Greetings fellow nerds... yep that was lame. Anyway, welcome to my story which was actually inspired by some fanart I came across. Basically, if Voltron isn't going to give Lance character development and a meaningful story line like Keith, then I'm going to do it. I hope you guys like Langst because there is a lot of it in here, along with his hunor bc it's Lance and I hope you enjoy :)**

-I **don't own anything to do with Voltron, just an obsessed** **fan** -

oOOo

Lance skidded down the hallway, sweat dripping down his neck as he rounded the corner, almost falling.

"I'm gonna _kill_ you!" Pidge screamed as she chased him, her face hot.

Lance laughed as he sprinted ahead of her, holding her laptop.

"You shouldn't have taken that video of me!" Lance called back as he ducked into the kitchen and hid behind the island.

"It's not my fault that you like to dress up in shark onsies and dance around like a noodle! -which by the way I _really_ want to know _where_ you got it considering we're in _space-_!" Pidge huffed as she stepped into the kitchen, pushing her glasses up with her middle finger incase he could see her.

"I saw that!" Lance yelled from his hiding spot.

"That was the _point_." Pidge shot back as she trudged over to where his voice came.

Lance let out a scream as Pidge hit him on top of the head with a plate.

As Lance reached for his head, Pidge yanked her laptop out of his hand.

"NoOo!" Lance yelled, leaping for it.

Pidge pushed him back and climbed onto the counter, holding it above her head, " _Mine_!" She snapped, shooing him away with her foot.

"Okay- Okay! Just, _please_ don't show anyone!" Lance begged, pulling a fake pouty face.

Pidge rolled her eyes and then opened her computer. Her face twisted as she tried to hold in a laugh.

" _What_??" Lance asked, crossing his arms.

Pidge fell off the counter and clutched her stomach as she rolled on the floor laughing.

Lance stared at her with utter confusion and fear etched across his face.

"Oh my god! Its just- You.. you posted it while you were taking it away from me!" Pidge cried with laughter, pointing to the screen.

Lance's face dropped as he leapt for the computer, "How the _heck_?! Pidge we're in _space_! How did this post???" Lance asked as he quickly deleted it, his face flushed.

"Knowing me, you should know that I would've figured a way to connect it to some form of internet." Pidge said as she dabbed at her eyes, still chuckling.

Lance placed his face in his hands and let out a muffled _oh my gooood_...

"It's okay, it's not like you're there to see everyone laughing at it." Pidge said as she patted him on the shoulder.

"That wasn't helpful!" Lance yelled.

Pidge snickered, "I know.. _I_ thought it was funny. Made my day, Lance, thanks." She said as she skipped out of the kitchen, her laptop in hand.

Lance stared after her, allowing a small grin to etch its way onto his face, when she did things like that, it reminded him of his younger siblings and how they would bug the _crap_ out of him.

"Paladins! Report to the bridge, immediately!" Allura's voice flooded through the castle, making Lance jump about ten feet.

"A little warning next time you decide to blare your voice through the castle would be _nice_!" He muttered to himself as he made his way to the bridge.

oOOo

Lance walked onto the bridge, his hands stuffed in his pockets.

"What's up?" He asked as he sat next to Hunk on one of the steps.

Pidge stood next to him, while Shiro stood next to Allura and Keith was off to the side with his arms crossed.

Allura had a pure look of concern on her face, "I'm sorry to say that I've discovered some bad news." She informed them.

Keith looked at her, "What is it?" He asked.

"Well... do you recall how in our last battle... things went ary and Haggar cast something onto Voltron?" Allura asked as she continued to wring her hands.

The paladins nodded, recalling how they had come so close to being taken down by Zarcon's new form. They had panicked and Haggar had taken control of their breif moment of fear.

"It turns out that it was a very powerful spell, one that she had been working on for who knows how long. Anyway.. the spell was cast onto each of your lions, so when you disbanded from Voltron, the spell took action. You see," Allura paused as she pulled up a visual of the lions, "The lions are coated in some sort of magic. I've been looking into it and if we don't get rid of the spell, you won't be able to form Voltron." Allura ended, her voice shaking.

Everyone stared at her in silence, taking in what she just said.

"Well.. let's start with this; is there anything that can help the lions?" Shiro asked, placing a comforting hand on Allura's shoulder.

Allura nodded, pulling up another visual, one that showed colored crystals.

"These crystals. They're called Azurite crystals, meaning "Stone of the Heavens". If we collect enough of them, I can turn them into a tonic that will rid the lions of any dark magic _and_ make them stronger. These crystals are extremely vital to your mission to destroy Zarcon. Without them.. all hope is lost." Allura explained.

Lance stared at the crystal. It was a dark turquoise with light blue streams of color flowing through it. It was also spotted with what looked like shattered green crystals. In all honesty, it looked like it could do _anything_.

"Okay, where do we get them from?" Hunk asked as he rubbed his hands together.

"That's the downside of the Azurite. You see, they're _insanely_ rare and can only be found on _two_ planets, each on different sides of the Universe. To retrieve them, you would have to go in pairs. Luckily enough, these planets have a very low inhabitant count." Allura responded as she showed them the two planets.

"Whoa..." Pidge gasped as she stared at them.

The first one was black with teal and white veins flowing around it. To Pidge, it looked like a circular computer chip.

"Can I go to that one?" She asked as she pointed at it, jumping up on her toes.

Allura chuckled, "Of course, you and Keith can go since the Plant of Treylluciana is known for being relatively hot and the Red Lion can withstand its heat." Allura said, pulling up an image of the blue fire along the cracks on the ground of the planet.

"Ironically, the other planet, Pheylix, is freezing. It has waters that are so cold that the moment something comes in contact with it, it freezes." Allura explained.

Lance stared in awe at the bright blue, clear waters of the ice planet.

"Lance and Shiro will go to Pheylix." Allura chimed in, she then focused her attention on Hunk, "Now don't think that I've forgotten about you, Hunk. I need you to stay here so you can help Coran and I with the tonic since it's kind of like your speciality of cooking." Allura said.

Hunk nodded eagerly, "That's perfect with me Princess, those planets are giving me an eery vibe."

" _Really_? I think they're great." Lance said, elbowing Hunk.

"Lance." Allura chided, "This is to be taken _very seriously_ , do you understand? We don't know what will happen during your missions so you have to be _completely_ focused, alright?"

Lance nodded, "I understand."

Allura gave him a small smile, "Good... thank you, Paladins. Now, Pidge and Keith, you better head off immediately, and take only Keith's lion." She instructed as she handed Pidge a black box, "Put the crystals in here once you find them, gather as many as you can and _please,_ be careful."

Pidge nodded. Lance ruffled her hair as she said goodbye to him and Hunk and then sped off with Keith.

"Alright, Lance we better-" Shiro began.

"Wait." Coran interrupted.

Lance looked at him with a confused look.

"With your lions weakening, I'm afraid that you can't land them on Pheylix. The freezing atmosphere will interfere with the magic and it could make things worse. But, don't worry, there is oxygen on the planet, you just can't breath it for more than 5 minutes." Coran explained.

"So.. I guess you're giving us a ride then?" Lance aaked.

Coran shook his head, "I've constructed a pod that will get you to and from the planet."

"Thank you Coran, we'll be back soon." Shiro said as he collected the box and headed towards the pod.

"Bye buddy." Lance said as he fist bumped Hunk.

"Don't take to long." Hunk called after him.

oOOo

"Should we be on fire right now?" Lance asked as they broke through the atmosphere of Pheylix.

"Uh... I don't think so." Shiro said as he tightened his grip on the controls.

"Well... should we freak out?" Lance asked, his voice growing louder.

"Probably." Shiro responded, his voice growing as well.

"OK GOOD BECAUSE WE'RE FRICKIN ON FIRE- AHHHHHH" Lance screamed as they grew closer to the ground.

"I'M KIND OF AWARE OF THAT, THANK YOU LANCE!" Shiro screamed back.

"KIND OF WHAT DO YOU MEAN KIND OF?!"

"I DON'T KNOW!"

"OH MY GOOOOOOD!"

The pod hit the ground with a loud crash, followed by Shiro yelling at Lance to stop screaming.

"Oh- my- God.. That wasn't okay." Lance gasped as he held his chest.

Shiro fiddled with the controls, "It's fried.. I guess we'll just have to tell Allura that we'll need a ride home." He muttered as he climbed out of the pod.

Lance climbed out after him. He slipped coming out though, and fell into the snow.

Shiro chuckled as he helped him up, "We land on a new planet and the first thing you do is fall."

"What can I say, I'm a clumsy guy who likes to make an entrance." Lance said as he brushed off the snow.

Shiro pulled up the radar from the screen on his arm, "It turns out that there is actually a small forest area where the crystals grow." He said as he eyed the map.

"A forest?... Where?" Lance asked as he looked around, only to see snow on the horizon.

"Uh.. North." Shiro said, pointing forward.

Lance groaned as he finally noticed the small speck of green off in the distance.

"That's so _far_." He muttered.

"We'll then we better get walking." Shiro said as he began treking the long miles forward.

Lance reluctantly trudged behind him, looking around every now and again.

This planet seemed rather empty and harmless, but Lance couldn't help but feel that something was incredibly off.

 **Eyyyy there's chapter one! The first few chapters are going to be relatively light hearted and normal, but just you wait because I have a crap ton of angst planed and actully.. maybe cried when I made it... so have fun looking forward to THAT!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello! I'm so happy with the amount of people who are reading this and I just want to say a quick thank you because I appreciate all of you! Anyway, I hope you keep reading and writing :)**

Treylluciana

Pidge excitedly tapped her foot as she held on to Keith's chair. They had just entered the atmosphere of the planet and she was already having trouble staying calm.

"What do you think it's going to be like? I mean the fire's blue which means it's very hot so would we be able to feel it through our suits, will it affect your lion, will it burn our shoes or-"

"Pidge." Keith cut her off calmly.

"Oh, sorry. I ramble when I get excited and.. nervous, I guess." Pidge explained as she tightened her grip on his chair.

"You have nothing to worry about, Coran gave us an exact location of the coolest spot on the planet so it doesn't interfere with Red. Once we land we can't use Red anymore because of her lack of energy so we'll be on our own except for some communication spots." Keith explained as he landed Red on the planet.

"Hello, Paladins?" Coran's voice cut through the speakers.

"Yeah, we're here." Keith answered.

"Oh good, I'm sending you a map of the planet. You should be able to find the crystals if you follow the map. But take precautions because there are many active volcanic- like boilers throughout the planet." Coran explained as he sent Pidge the map.

"Thanks Coran, have you heard from Lance and Shiro?" Pidge asked.

Coran was silent for a moment, leaving Keith and Pidge alone with the static.

Pidge looked at Keith and saw the same concern in his face that she felt boiling up inside her.

"Coran?" Pidge asked again, her voice wavering slightly.

"Uh.. well we lost contact with their pod once they broke through the atmosphere of Pheylix.. but we're working on getting in contact with them- no need to worry, I.. I'm sure they're fine and it's just the distance." Coran explained hastily.

Pidge seemed dissatisfied with that answer but kept her mouth shut. She turned away from the controls and fiddled with the map.

"Thanks Coran.. We'll stay in contact." Was all Keith said before he got up to leave.

"Pidge?" Keith asked.

Pidge looked up and noticed that Keith was almost out of the cockpit.

"Oh- Yeah, I'm coming." Pidge stuttered as she exited the lion.

oOOo

Pidge gasped as they started walking away from Red. There seemed to be multiple pixels floating through the air that intertwined with eachother like vines. Pidge reached up to touch them and found that they were like holographics as her hand slid right through them.

"What does the map say?" Keith asked, pulling her attention back to their mission.

Pidge pulled up the map and scanned it, "It says that the crystals are in a cluster in the middle of a type of mine field." Pidge answered as they continued forward.

Keith groaned, "A _minefield_?"

Pidge nodded, "It's a couple of miles that way and we should reach it before sundown." Pidge said as she pointed forward.

Keith nodded. He felt his fingers twitching at his sides and hoped that Pidge didn't notice how uneasy he was.

Pidge was thinking the exact same, she felt a cold sweat breakout across her neck and silently wished that Coran hadn't told them about Lance and Shiro... why did she even ask?

Because she cared about them and they were on complete other sides of the galaxy; that's why she asked.

Pidge cast a glance at Keith and noticed that he was reading something off the screen on his arm.

"What's that?" Pidge asked as she hopped over a rock.

"Coran just sent me something about the planet.. it's just facts and stuff." Keith answered.

Pidge scoffed, "You'd think that they would've explained to us where we were going instead of basically sending us to an unknown planet with an instruction manual and no back up plan."

Keith nodded in agreement, "I think they panicked... I know it's not like them but I don't think any of us really thought about what we're getting into, I mean even from the beginning we've just kind of jumped into things and never really thought about what was in store." Keith said as he shut off the screen.

Pidge bit her lip as she thought about what he said. They really _did_ just jump into all of this, quite literally considering that they all got onto the blue lion and flew across space. She just hadn't really thought about it like that.

Pidge felt herself loose her footing and let out a scream as the ground she was walking on caved in and gave way to the inner part of the planet. She panicked and was falling before she could comprehend what was happening.

"Keith!" She managed to yell out as she began to fall through the now crumbling opening.

"Pidge!" Keith yelled as he skidded onto his knees and reached for her arm. His fingers just barely touched hers before she fell out of reach.

"NO!!" Keith screamed.

Pidge snapped her head up at his scream and slightly composed herself mid fall. She turned on her jet pack and flew towards the opening. Pidge yelled out as she ran into one of the many pillars around her and spun off course.

Pidge kicked off the wall and shot herself up towards the hole, catching sight of Keith's outstretched hand. She reached out and grabbed it, the speed she was going causing her to spring forward and hit the under part of the ground.

Keith stumbled forward a little but kept his grip on Pidge's wrist.

Pidge swiveled herself around and grabbed onto his other arm with her free hand.

"Come on!" Keith grunted as he pulled her out of the broken opening.

Pidge fell on her side once she reached stable ground and breathed heavily, her breath fogging up her face plate.

Keith stayed on his knees next to her, holding onto her shoulder.

"Oh god.." Pidge breathed as she held her hand over her chest.

Keith just nodded as he took in what just happened and urged the panic in him to calm down.

Pidge sat up and placed her hand on Keith's shoulder, "Thanks." She said quietly.

Keith nodded again, "Let's not do that again." He responded.

Pidge let out a soft laugh, "Deal."

Keith helped her up and held onto her as she swayed a little. She waved it off and brushed herself off.

"Crap." Pidge muttered as she caught sight of her arm plate.

"What is it?" Keith asked.

Pidge showed him her arm, "My screen's busted."

Keith bit his lip, "And you had the map.." He said.

Pidge groaned as she let her arm fall to her side.

She looked at the ground and contacted Coran.

"Y-es Pa- Pal-dins." Coran answered, his voice breaking out.

"Coran? This is Pidge.. I lost the map and I need you to send one to Keith." Pidge said.

"I- can only- se-d one of the loc-a- location of the cry-st-ls." Coran answered.

Pidge took moment to figure out what he just said, "Uh.. yes a map of where the crystals are would be great, thank you."

"Just a -ick."

Pidge tapped her foot impatiently as she stared at Keith's arm plate.

It lit up and revealed the crystal map.

Pidge sighed in relief.

Keith looked it over and then looked at Pidge, "You ready to go?" He asked.

Pidge nodded and followed Keith to the crystals, watching both of their footing.

oOOo

"So yeah that's why I don't like turtles." Keith was saying as the two climbed over large rocks.

"That's rather dumb.. turtles can't do anything, they're just kind of there and get stuck when they fall on their backs." Pidge responded as they got back to flatter ground.

"That's exactly my point, they seem all innocent but then they turn around on you and bite your nose." Keith said.

Pidge laughed, "It happened _once_ and I don't even think that was a turtle considering we were on an alien planet."

Keith shrugged, "Still don't trust em'".

Pidge rolled her eyes.

"I.. think we're here." Keith stated as they neared a large crater like dip in the ground. There were small explosion marks all around the crater and Keith could just make out a glowing object in the center.

"That's it." Pidge gasped as she took in the scenery before her.

Keith nodded and then pulled up the facts sheet Coran sent him.

"Okay.. so this area is insanely fragile and sensitive to movement so we not only have to avoid the bomb-parts but we have to step lightly."

" _Bomb-parts_?" Pidge asked, staring at Keith.

"Shut up." He said with a grin.

Keith pulled up the map of the minefield and proceeded forward, instructing Pidge to follow him closely.

Pidge stepped where Keith stepped. She became uneasy as cracks kept appearing under his feet.

"Keith I think we should rethink thi- WATCH OUT!" Pidge was cut off as the cracks began to glow and well up. She reached forward and grabbed Keith's collar as they formed an explosion, throwing the two Paladins back. She felt Keith fly out of her grip and her vision blurred as she neared the ground.

Pidge felt the air get knocked out of her as she hit the ground. She saw Keith skid across the ground out of the corner of her eye.

Pidge hastily got up and ran over to him, skidding to her knees at his side.

She wiped the dirt off of his helmet and peered down at him.

He stared back at her, his eyes wide as he breathed heavily. He had a bloody cut on the side of his head from where it collided with his helmet.

"You okay?" She asked as she helped him sit up.

Keith nodded and grasped at his burnt chest plate.

"That's going to leave a mark." He grunted as he took a few more deep breaths.

Pidge felt her hands twitch slightly, "I think only one of us should go to get the crystals."

Keith stared at her, "What- no, we can't split up-"

"We wouldn't really be splitting up, we would still be able to see eachother and stay in contact with eachother," Pidge interrupted, "Plus you saw and _felt_ how it reacted when we both walked on it."

Keith bit his lip as he thought about what to do.

"Okay, I'll go, I'm the one who has the map and we need it to walk through the minefield." Keith said as he stood up; too quickly as he stumbled and fell to his knees as his vision blurred.

Pidge was immediately by his side, "Okay that's a no. _I'll_ go, I'm the smallest and you're still winded by the explosion."

Keith shook his head and opened his mouth to object but Pidge cut him off, "I'll be fine, you can lead me through.. it'll be like the invisible maze."

Keith frowned, "I suck at the invisible maze."

Pidge scoffed, "That's because you did it with Lance." She walked to the edge of the crater, "Now just.. lead me through."

Then Pidge stepped into the minefield.

oOOo

Hunk's hands frantically flew over the controls as he scanned the screens in front of him.

"Are you sure that pod was stable enough to get them there _and_ back because by the looks of it, it didn't even get through the atmosphere!" Hunk yelled at Coran as he tried to contact his friends.

"I checked and re-checked! The pod should've made it without any problems, I just don't understand it!" Coran responded as he located the pod.

Hunk huffed at him as he pulled up the pods course, "So.. they made it to the planet but not before the pod caught _fire._ Coran when did you build this thing??"

Coran twirled his mustache in between his fingers, "Uh.. about last night."

Hunk glared at him, "So you mean to tell me that you sent _two_ of our paladins to an _unknown_ planet in a pod that you haven't even _tested_?!" Hunk said through gritted teeth.

Coran nodded, "I.. Well yes I suppose.. but I made sure that the pod was stable!"

Hunk opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by Allura, "Alright.. Let's not point fingers. Coran is an excellent mechanic and if he built it then the pod _should have_ survived but at times like these we do tend to miscalculate even the most importan things."

Hunk was silent for a moment and then took a deep breath, "You're right.. I'm sorry for yelling, Coran. I'm just so _worried_! I feel like we didn't give them enough information and we just totally sent them into an unknown world unprepared!"

Allura placed her hand on his shoulder, "I'm worried too... but we can't let that distract us, we need to stay focused and we need to be ready incase Lance and Shiro are able to contact us.. for now let's keep working on contacting _them_."

Hunk nodded and turned his attention back to his work.

He felt completely on edge and had a terrible feeling that something was going to happen to his fellow paladins... to his _friends_.

oOOo

 **Tadaaa! This was actually longer than I intended it to be and we'll definitely get more Lance ans Shiro stuff next chapter and NO I do not ship Keith and Pidge, I just see it as a sibling relationship. That's kind of how I see all the Paladins except for Keith and Lance and sometimes Lance and Pidge. It can go either way for me.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! This will probably be the last chapter of the year ;) So happy New Years and I hope you all had a happy holiday :)**

Pheylix

Lance tapped his fingers against his bayard as he followed Shiro through the snowy field.

"Do we have a plan for when we need to get back to the ship?" Lance asked as he continued looking around.

"Well... hopefully once we're ready to go Keith and Pidge would've already helped one of our lions so we can just call for them." Shiro answered as he trudged through the snow.

"And if they're not back in time?" Lance asked as he felt a knot in his stomach begin to form.

Shiro was silent as he scanned the map, "I'm sure the others are working on getting in contact with us right now."

Lance nodded, and then realising that he was walking behind Shiro, replied with, "You're probably right.. I'm just being paranoid and it doesn't help thay I've been on edge recently."

Shiro stopped and turned to Lance, "Why are you on edge?"

Lance bit his lip as he realised what he just said, "Oh.. um well it was my youngest brothers birthday the other day and it's the first year that I haven't... been there." Lance sighed.

Shiro placed his hand on Lance's shoulder, "I'm sure that if he knew what you were doing, he would be proud of you."

Lance shrugged, "I guess.. I just.. nevermind, it doesn't matter."

Shiro began asking what was wrong but Lance waved it off as he began to walk towards the forest again.

Lance mentally kicked himself for slipping up like that in front of Shiro. He knew that he souldn't be annoyed with himself for expressing how he felt but it just didn't seem right for the _goofball_ to be all vulnerable and crap like that in front of his _hero_.

oOOo

"Allura!" Hunk called as he stared at the screens in front of him.

Allura was by his side instantly, "What is it?"

"Okay, okay, don't panic but as I was looking for Lance and Shiro I discovered something about Pheylix." Hunk said as he showed her the planet.

"You see, it's a very old planet and even though it's coated in snow and ice, its core is a star that is about to _supernova_."

Allura's face fell as she took in what Hunk just told her. She placed her face in her hands and took a deep breath before looking back at the screens.

"I can't believe we sent them to a _bomb planet_." She muttered as her hands flew over the controls.

"Luckily, I just found a way to contact them- can you track how long they have before the planet explodes?" Allura asked Hunk.

He nodded and hastily turned to the screens.

"Coran!" Allura called, her eyes glued to the screen.

Coran ran in, "Yes, what is it?"

"How is the tonic going?" Allura asked.

"Fine fine, except I'm missing a very important ingredient that is luckily found on Pheylix." Coran replied.

"No!" Allura slammed her fists on the controls, "We need Lance and Shiro to get _off_ of that planet as soon as possible!"

Coran stared at her in shock, "What do you mean?"

"She means that the planet is going to _supernova_ in 3 hours!" Hunk exclaimed.

Coran's face went blank, "Oh dear."

Allura pinched the bridge of her nose, "Is there anywhere else they can get the.. what was it?"

Coran shook his head, "Elem leaves are vital to the tonic and are only found on Pheylix trees... Which I see is not in our best interests at the moment.. this is turning quite disastrous..."

Allura frowned, her brow crinkled in concern.

"Got it!" Hunk yelled.

"Got _what_?" Allura huffed.

"A signal! We can contact Lance and Shiro!

"Thank goodness." Allura sighed as Hunk contacted them.

oOOo

"Paladins? Paladins, can you here me?"

Shiro looked up, "Allura?"

"Yes, yes it's me.. Are you both alright?"

"Perfect shape princess.. can't say the same for our pod though." Lance replied.

"Yes.. sorry about that but I'm afraid I have more bad news.."

Lance looked at Shiro before asking what it was.

Allura hastily explained the supernova and that they only had 3 hours to get the crystals.

Shiro sighed, "Alright.. we better get going, have you found a way for us to get back yet?"

"We're working on it but-" Allura started before being interrupted by Hunk.

"Yeah, working on it but Coran also realised he needs these leaves called Elem leaves? Yeah.. anyway they're these yellow petal leaves from the trees and we _really_ need them for the tonic so as much as I hate the idea, can you guys get them?"

Lance huffed, "That's _great_. This is all just _great_."

"We'll get them Hunk, don't worry. We will try to stay in contact but we have to go now." Shiro said.

"Okay, goodluck and please be safe you guys!" Hunk replied.

"You got it, buddy." Lance said as the two began walking towards the forest again.

oOOo

Lance stared in awe at the forest. It was filled with the most vibrant green and it seemed to flow effortlessly into the snow. Lance frowned as he thought about how this planet wasn't going to exist tomorrow.

"Lance.. you coming?" Shiro asked.

Lance brought his attention back to Shiro, "Yeah, yeah I'm coming."

Shiro nodded and began walking into the forest.

"Do you think we should split up?" Shiro asked after a while of mindlessly walking.

" _What_? No! Definitely not, something bad always happens when people split up." Lance replied.

Shiro frowned, "But we have a limited amount of time to find the crystals _and_ the leaves. All I'm saying is that it would be easier to split up."

Lance tapped his foot as he thought about what Shiro said, "I don't know.. I see what you mean but it just seems to risky."

"Staying on this planet is already a huge risk, we can handle it and we'll stay in contact." Shiro responded.

Lance sighed, "Alright.. okay I'll go look for the leaves while you go find the crystals.. just send like an _okay_ message every five minutes."

Shirl nodded, "Meet you at the edge of the forest, soon."

The two paladins separated, causing Lance to feel even more on edge.

"What did they look like again?" Lance asked Hunk through his coms.

"They're like these thick, yellow leaves that kind of look like flower petals and they're found around the base of those really tall trees." Hunk responded.

"Really tall trees? Hunk, _all_ the trees are tall." Lance said.

"Oh, right. Um these trees are mostly all trunk- like they have no leaves except for the Elem leaves." Hunk said.

Lance chuckled, "I bet they look stupid."

"Yeah.. I just nodded- also their trunks are very light so you should be able to spot them." Hunk replied.

"Cool, thanks buddy, see you later." Lance said.

"Bye."

Lance stumbled forward as the ground shook, revealing glowing cracks through the ground.

 _Crap_.. Lance thought.

"Shiro, did you feel that?" Lance asked as he held onto a tree for support.

"Yeah... we better hurry, did you find anything yet?" Shiro responded.

"No.. I think I see the tree though, how about you?" Lance asked.

"I think I'm getting close... just keep going, we're running out of time." Shiro replied.

Lance nodded and continued forward.

He had infact seen the tree ahead of him, as he was now standing at the base of it.

Lance kneeled down and started to dig through the dirt.

"There you are." Lance sighed as he picked the leaves up. He stared at them in shock. They seemed to glow and shimmer. Lance could feel the heat from the ground increase as he stood up. He quickly placed the leaves into the blue capsule that Coran had given him and attached it to the top of his jet pack.

"I found the leaves, how are you doing?" Lance asked as he slowly made his descent back to level ground.

"I'm in the area where they should be... I'll update you when I find them." Shiro responded, his voice tense as he crawled through the small tunnel that they grew in.

Lance sighed, feeling a little hopeful.

Lance yelled out as the ground shook and caused him to fall forward down the hill. His vision blurred as he crashed through the trees.

Lance skidded to a halt at the base of a tree, his head spining.

He grunted as he urged himself up into a sitting position. Lance held his chest as he breathed, flinching as he felt an intense pain in his side.

Lance looked down and felt his heart drop at the sight of his side. He could see a jagged rock sticking out of his side, tacky with blood.

Lance let out a shakey breath as his hands fumbled around the rock.

His breath hitched as he pulled the rock out of his side. He immediately regreted it as blood began to flow out of the wound.

"No, no, no..." Lance gasped as he pressed his hand into his side and looked around widly. He noticed some vines hanging from the tree above him.

Lance gathered up some large leaves and pressed them into his side. He then pushed himself up against the tree and slowly made his way to his feet. He reached up with his left hand and ripped down some of the vines. Lance then tied the vines around his middle tightly, securing the leaves and creating a makeshift bandage.

Lance leaned against the tree and breathed deeply as his head swam.

"Come on Lance.. you gotta keep going." He muttered as he pushed off the tree. He kept his left arm wrapped around his middle as he stumbled forwards.

"Lance!" Shiro called, making Lance flinch.

"Yeah?" Lance asked weakly.

"I found the crystals- are you okay?" Shiro responded.

"Uh.. I just took a nasty fall.." Lance replied.

"Are you hurt?" Shiro asked, concern thick in his voice.

Lance closed his eyes and leaned against a rock, "I.. yeah.. I should be fine once we.. get back.. to the ship.."

"Okay, hold on, I'm coming to you." Shiro instructed.

Lance slid down the rock and rested his head against it.

"Stay awake.." He whispered as he took deep breaths, his side screaming in protest.

Lance looked down and groaned as he saw the blood seeping through his makeshift bandages.

He slowly changed out the leaves and packed more over the wound, securing them tighter.

oOOo

Lance snapped his eyes open as he heard his name being called.

He looked around and noticed that it was Shiro's voice.

"Shiro?" Lance called out, his voice raspy.

"Lance?" Shiro yelled out as he ran towards the sound.

Lance sighed and then felt his breath hitch as he heard the ground cracking.

"Lance!" Shiro exclaimed as he caught sight of Lance.

Lance's eyes widened as the cracks began to glow, "Shiro wai-" Lance was cut off my an explosion as the cracks burst, throwing Shiro off to the side.

Lance skidded sideways, getting the air knocked out of him as he smacked into a tree. His ears rung and his side screamed as he stood up and stumbled forward.

Lance felt his heart skip a beat as he saw the huge crater now present in the ground.

"S-Shiro?!" Lance called as he stumbled around it.

"SHIRO?!" Lance yelled, feeling the panic take over.

Lance ran through the trees, searching for his teammate. He gasped as he found him laying on his back far away from the crater.

"No no no!" Lance exclaimed as he skidded to his knees and checked Shiro's pulse. He breathed out in relief as he felt it under his fingertips but that relief was replaced with panic as he realized the state Shiro was in.

His chest plate was burnt and cracked and Lance could see blood running down the side of Shiro's face. Lance guessed he had broken some ribs and his suit was charred.

Lance could hear the hammering of his heart in his ears as he stared at his hero.

"What do I do? What do I do??" Lance repeated as he felt hot tears spring into his eyes.

"Paladins!" Allura's voice cut through Lance's comms.

"Princess?" Lance gasped.

"We are coming to get you, Your jetpacks should be able to propel you into space where we will pick you up but you bave to get far away from the planet as you only have half an hour before it explodes." Allura instructed.

Lance nodded, "I'll try but-" Lance was cut off by static as he lost contact, "Allura?? Hunk?? Hello?"

Static.

"NO!" Lance screamed. He wildly looked around and gasped as he noticed the glowing cracks beneath him.

He felt his heart skip a beat and hastily grabbed Shiro under his arms and began dragging him away from the cracks.

"Come on! Please! I can't- I can't do this alone- Please!!" Lance yelled as he struggled to pull his leader. His side roared in protest. Lance caught sight of the growing cracks and threw himself on top of Shiro, trying to protect him.

Lance felt himself propelled away from the ground as another explosion occured. He gripped onto Shiro as he spun out of control. Lance screamed as he lost his grip when he hit the ground, feeling the air knocked out of him. His face plate took most of the damage as Lance collided with the ground.

His vision blurred and he coughed up blood onto his cracked visor. It was completely smashed and there was a piece missing but he was still _breathing_.

"Air!" Lance gasped as he ripped his helmet off, giving way to the frigid air.

Lance went numb to it instantly. He dropped his helmet and ran over to Shiro. Realisation hit him as he kneeled next to his friend.

"Come on, come on!" Lance yelled as he flipped Shiro onto his stomach.

Lance reached behind him and took off his capsule and attached it to Shiro's. Lance carved a messaged onto the blue capsule before locking it in.

"You're probably going to be mad at me for this... but only one of us can get to space, and if you think about it.. it works out this way.. you're the leader... I'm just the.. goofball." Lance muttered as he ripped off the cover of the jet pack. He rewired the jetpack to go off in one minute and keep going until it lost power. Lance hastily placed the plate back on and pulled Shiro to his feet.

Lance felt his knees buckle but held Shiro upright.

"Come on!" He yelled as tears rolled down his face, freezing to his skin.

"COME ON!!" Lance screamed as he squeezed his eyes shut. He heard the jetpack start and released Shiro as he left the ground.

Lance watched his ascend into space, his chest tight, "Forgive me for this.." He muttered.

Lance held onto his side as he picked up his helmet and sat down. He could hear distant explosions as he closed his eyes. Despite the snow, the dying planet felt warm under his hands.

Lance allowed his memories to race through his head as he listened to the planet.

He saw the first time he met Hunk and Pidge.. Blue.. The first time they formed voltron.. So many battles they fought together.. Bonding moments..

Lance gave a sad smile as he felt his tears escape his closed eyes.

His smile faded as he remembered his family. His mom, dad, brothers and sisters...

Lance's eyes snapped open, "I'm _not_ leaving them."

He grabbed his helmet and ignoring the burning in his side, raced towards the icey blue waters. He skidded through the snow and felt his legs go numb but kept running as the planet gave off explosions around him.

Lance stumbled to a halt as he came to the edge of the water.

"Please.. come on.." He whispered as he dipped the face of his helmet into the water. He quickly retracted it and watched as it instantly froze over, creating a new screen.

Lance stared in shock, "Okay.. okay I can do this.." Lance positioned himself so that he could dip his side into the water. The right side of his body from his under arm to his waist froze.

"Ahh.. okay, okay.." Lance gasped.

He awkwardly stood up and placed his helmet on his head. His suit activated and even though he couldn't see, he would be able to breath.

Lance shook out his hands as he heard the familiar cracks of the ground. He felt it heat up beneath his feet and counted to three.

On three Lance pushed off of the ground and rocketed up into the sky. The ground exploded and propelled him higher.

Lance felt his breathing become uneven as he broke through the atmosphere and entered space.

He closed his eyes as his head swam. He felt the heat of the dying planet radiate to him as he flew away.

"I'm coming.." Lance whispered as he drifted out of consciousness.

oOOo

 **Yeah yeah I'm evil yadda yadda yadda. Also none of this is scientifically correct but ya know _aliens_ so yeah, whatever happens, works :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi! So happy new years to all you lovely people and I just want to say thank you for all of your reviews and follows! I love reading the reviews and I want to reply to them but for some reason my email won't let me so if you have any tips on how to respond to the reviews, I would really appreciate because I want you guys to know how frickin happy I get whenever I get a review!!! :)**

oOOo

Hunk felt his neck break out in a cold sweat as Lance's voice was replaced with static.

"No no _no._ " Hunk groaned as he scrambled to get the connection back.

"What happened??" Allura asked, her voice thick with panic.

"I-I don't know! It just stopped working!" Hunk responded as he quickly bent down to look at the main control panel.

"Hunk, Allura! I think you need to see this!" Coran exclaimed as he made his way over.

"What is it?" Hunk huffed as he continued messing around with the wires, even though he knew that they weren't the problem.

"I'm afraid we lost the connection because...Look." Coran replied as he pulled up an image of Pheylix.

Allura gasped as she stared at the planet. She could see large blue cracks running through the planet and explosions were extremely visible.

"It's dying.." Hunk said, his voice barely audible.

Allura looked at Hunk as hot tears pricked her eyes, "How much time is left before it..." Her voice broke before she could finish.

Hunk swallowed as he looked at the screen, "It has half an hour..." He answered, his throat tight.

Allura held onto the table as she swayed, her head fuzzy, "Do we know if they got off?" She asked, her eyes squeezed shut.

"We have no way of contacting them... but by what Lance was saying before we lost contact.. it didn't seem good." Coran answered, "I.. have to go.. finish the tonic.." He whispered, turning away as tears threatened to fall.

After he left Allura and Hunk stood in silence. Terrible, suffocating silence... neither of them knew what to say... neither of them thought that they could even _think_ without loosing it.

Allura let out a chocked sob, her shoulders shaking.

Hunk shook his head as he pulled her into a hug, allowing his own tears to flow freely.

"They _can't_ be gone.. They just _can't be_." Allura cried, her voice muffled by Hunk's shirt.

Hunk just shook his head again and hugged her tighter.

The two stood in disbelief in the quiet room, anxious for any signs that their lost paladins were alive.

Hunk jumped as the controls began to beep. He shut them off and looked at the screen. He gasped as they picked up something moving a couple of miles away.

"Something's there!" Hunk exclaimed.

Allura's eyes widened before she scrambled over to her podium. She quickly sent the ship flying in the direction of the lifeform.

"It's _someone_!" She gasped, "I'm pulling them in." She activated the beam and the two watched as it was pulled into the ship.

"Come on." Allura called as she raced to the main deck, Hunk right behind her.

Allura almost slammed into the wall as she frantically opened the air lock. She turned the lights on and wildly looked around.

"There!" Hunk yelled as he ran over to a body laying near the wall.

He kneeled beside it and turned it over, "Shiro!" He exclaimed.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Allura gasped as she kneeled by Shiro's head.

Their moment of relief was replaced with dread as they realised that it was _just_ Shiro.

"W.. where's Lance?" Hunk asked, his voice shaking.

Allura raised her hand to her mouth in shock when she didn't see the blue paladin.

Hunk's vision blurred as he was once again blinded by tears.

Allura wiped her eyes with the back of her hand as she looked down at Shieo. Her eyes widened as she caught sight of the two capsules.

"Hunk." She said as she grabbed his shoulder.

He looked at her and then followed her eyes. His breath hitched in his throat as he read the message carved onto the blue capsule.

"No..." He cried, covering his face with his hands.

Allura detached the capsule and stared at the message.

 _Go on without me_.

Allura traced the letters with her finger, her lip trembling.

Her shaking hands forced her to put the capsule down. Allura shook her head as she turned back to Shiro and took off his helmet. She gasped as she caught sight of his face. Hunk didn't dare take his hands away from his face as Allura examined his wounds.

The large cut on the side of his face was tacky with blood and sweat. Allura could feel his broken ribs as she lightly touched his side.

"C..can you get Coran please? We... we have to get him in a cryo pod.." Allura choked out.

Hunk quickly ran out of the room, his sobs echoing down the halls.

Allura clenched her fists as she listened to his cries, her heart ached at the thought of their lost paladin. She took a deep, shakey breath before returning her attention to Shiro. She placed his head in her lap and held onto his shoulder as she waited for Hunk to return with Coran.

" _Lance_!" Shiro gasped as he jolted upright.

Allura yelled out as he frantically looked around.

"Shiro!" Allura shouted as he tried to stand up.

Shiro snapped his eyes towards her, "Allura?" His eyes widened as he looked around, "Where am I- Where's Lance??" He asked, grabbing onto her shoulders.

Allura bit her lip as she took hold of his hands, "You need to sit down..." She said quietly.

Shiro's face fell as Allura helped him to the ground.

"What happened?" He asked, his voice thick with pain and concern.

Allura looked Shiro dead in the eyes as she felt tears reappear, "Shiro... we don't.. know what happened.. exactly.. We had contact with Lance.. but then everything went to static.. and then Pheylix.." Allura stopped as she tried to compose herself. Shiro held onto her hand tighter. Allura shook her head as she continued, "We found you in space.. alone and.. with both the capsules... and there's- a message." She choked out as she handed him the blue capsule.

Shiro hesitantly took it, his hands shaking. He looked down and read it.. He read it over and over again, not believing the words that he was seeing.

"No.. no no no.." He whispered as he covered his eyes with his hand. He let out a choked as he fell onto Allura.

She wrapped her arms around him. He buried his face in her shoulder, clutching the capsule to his chest.

oOOo

"You ready?" Keith asked as he pulled up the map of the mine field.

"Yeah." Pidge answered as she looked over the minefield. It looked so harmless and beautiful with the blue pixels flowing over it and the small craters letting off a warm glow.

"Okay, step lightly.. take four steps forward, putting one foot _directly_ in front of the other." Keith instructed as he stared at the map.

Pidge did as he said, walking slowly and carefully as if she were on a tight rope.

"Good.. now take seven steps to the left and then five more forward." Keith said.

Pidge followed his instructions, her breath heavy as sweat appeared on her forehead.

"Keith?" Pidge asked after Keith didn't respond.

"I'm here.. it's just that this one is difficult.. okay, I think I got it, take eleven steps to the right, eight forward and then two more to the left." Keith answered.

Pidge nodded and then followed the route that he gave her.

"Where to?" She asked.

Keith steadily gave her the next few instructions that she followed with ease.

She was almost to the crystals when Keith came to a problem.

"Okay.. this next part is very big.. so big that you can't go around it.." Keith said.

Pidge frowned, "What do I do then? I can't go over it, the jetpack will cause to much movement."

Keith was quiet for a second, "I have an idea but it's going to be difficult.."

Pidge sighed, "Let's hear it.. I don't know what else to do." She answered.

"Okay.. so the mine is insanely huge.. probably the biggest one here.. My best idea is that you push off a couple steps away from it and then activate your jetpack mid air- but only slightly activate it- and then turn it off once you come close to the ground again." Keith explained.

Pidge stared at the ground as she took that in, "Okay.. but if I mess up then it will set off the biggest mine here and then who knows what will happen after _that_ goes off and then what if it destroys the crystals what if-"

"Pidge." Keith said calmly.

Pidge turned her head around to look at him, her hands twitching, "Sorry.." She whispered.

Keith shook his head, "You don't have to be sorry. I understand that you're scared but I'm going to be right here with you and whatever happens, I'll be there for you. Just take a deep breath and don't worry, you're going to be okay.. I won't let anything happen to you, okay?" Keith said to her.

Pidge bit her lip as she nodded, "Okay.." She breathed as she turned to face the crystals again.

"I've got this.." She whispered.

Pidge took a couple of steps back, her hands shaking. She took a deep breath and jumped off the ground as lightly as she could. Pidge quickly initiated her jet pack slightly so she seemed to glide over the mine. As she neared the ground, Pidge slowly decreased the jetpacks power and landed on her toes.

Pidge let out a sigh of relief as she touched the ground, releasing her tense shoulders.

"YOU DID IT!!" Keith cheered from the other side of the crater.

Pidge let out a laugh that was mixed with relief and surprise, "Thanks, Keith."

Keith smiled, "Now go get those crystals."

"Gladly." Pidge responded as she turned to head towards the small crater that they grew in.

She slowly bent down and placed the crystals into her and Keith's capsules. She attatched them together and then secured them on her back as she turned to head back.

"Good job, Pidge. Now just do the same thing coming back, okay?" Keith said as she neared the mine.

Pidge nodded, feeling more confident this time.

She stepped back and pushed off again. The extra weight threw her off and caused her to panic. She fully initiated the jetpack and flew across the mine before hastily shutting it off and falling to the ground. She landed on her stomach and immediately froze in panic.

She held her breath as she heard the loud cracking of the ground. She looked behind her and saw the mine swell in slow motion.

"RUN!!" Keith screamed at her.

Pidge scrambled to her feet, her heart racing. She ran towards Keith, blinded by panic. Pidge yelled out as she felt the mine explode a couple of feet behind her. She was blown forward as it exploded, setting off the ones around it.

Keith watched in shock as he lost sight of Pidge. His heart dropped as he relised the entire mine was going to explode.

"PIDGE!?" He screamed before the wave of explosions hit him and sent him flying.

oOOo

Keith's eyes snapped open as he gasped for breath. He let out a raspy cough and shook his head as his ears rung. He placed a hand over his charred chestplate, grateful for the strong material.

His breath caught in his throat as the thought of what just happened raced into his mind. He scrambled to his feet, his vision blurring as he swayed.

"Pidge?" He called out weakly, looking around wildly.

"PIDGE?!" Keith yelled, his voice breaking as he ran towards the mine field.

Keith let out a strangled cry as he took in the view in front of him; his heart skipping a beat.

oOOo

 **Muahahaha.. enjoy the suffering :')**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hiiiiii! I really have no excuse for taking so long other than some writers block and my addiction to the sims :) Annnywayyy, I think I've kept you waiting long enough so enjoy the angst because it's coming down like rain.**

oOOo

Keith felt his heart pouding in his ears as he took in the view before him. The crater was now filled with scattered debris and blue flames. He held his breath as he wildly scanned the field, searching for Pidge. Something green caught his eye and he immediately sprinted towards it, stumbling through the rubble.

"Pidge!" Keith called out as he ran forward. He skidded to his knees and grabbed for the armour. He let out a gasp as he pulled her helmet out of the dirt. He held it in his hands in shock, tears sparking his eyes.

"No no _no_." He cried as he stood and frantically looked for his friend. He found her a couple of yards away and rushed over to her.

Keith pulled her out of the debris and shoved her helmet on; clicking it in place.

He pulled her into his lap and checked her bio monitor through his screen. It was completely blank and quiet.

"Please.. please.. _please_ don't do this.." Keith pleaded as he held onto Pidge.

Keith jumped as Pidge took in a gasp of air, her bio monitoring beeping again.

"Oh, thank god." Keith sighed as he stared at Pidge. She lay unconscious, her face covered in dirt and sweat.

Keith took in a raspy breath as he lifted her up in his arms, "Come on.." He muttered as he activated his jet pack and flew out of the crater.

Keith stumbled as he hit the ground and then took off running towards red, his heart pounding in his ears. He held onto Pidge tighter as the lion came into view.

"Just.. hold on a little.. longer." Keith said between breaths as Pidge let out a small groan.

"Open up!" Keith yelled as he neared Red. She deactivated her particle barrier and let him into the cock pit.

Keith gently placed Pidge on the ground in front of his chair. He slowly took off her helmet and let out a small gasp. Pidge's face was cut and bruised, the most noticible injuries being a bloody cut on her lip and above her brow bone.

Keith hesitantly reached over and checked her pulse. He let out a sigh as he felt it faintly beneath his finger tips. Keith held onto her shoulder before going to sit in the chair.

It pulled up to the control panel and Keith contacted the ship. He impatiently tapped his foot as he left the planet and waited for the others to answer.

"Keith?" Allura's voice broke through the comms.

"Allura! I'm leaving the planet now and I can't keep red going for much longer so I need you to come." Keith said, his voice shaking.

Allura was silent before responding with a grim; okay.

Keith frowned as he glanced at Pidge, "I.. I also need a cryo pod ready.. for Pidge. She got hurt after she retrieved the crystals." He explained solemnly.

Keith perked up as he heard Allura let out a small cry, "Allura?" He asked quietly.

"I'll be there soon." Allura whispered before shutting off the comms.

Keith took in a shakey breath as he awaited her arrival, his hands shaking.

oOOo

"Keith, we're here and pulling you in." Allura said over the comms.

"Thank you." Keith responded before going over to Pidge. He gently lifted her up as the lion's door opened. He carefully walked out and was met by Hunk and Allura who both had tear streaks on their faces.

Keith stared at them, concern building up inside him, "Guys?" He asked.

Allura just motioned for him to follow her as Hunk stared at Pidge in shock.

Keith gave him a sad look before hurrying after Allura.

"Allura, what's going...on." Keith said, his voice giving out as they entered the cryo room. He noticed Shiro in one of the pods.

"Bring her over here." Allura instructed, opening up the pod next to Shiro.

Keith quickly did as she was told and was soon faced with seeing Pidge looking more lifeless than ever.

Keith and Allura stood in silence as they watched the two paladins, their throats tight.

Realisation dawned on Keith as he noticed that something was missing, "Allura?" He asked, his voice cracking.

Allura stiffened up as she brought her hand to her mouth.

"W.. Where's Lance?" Keith slowly formed his words, scared of receiving the answer.

Allura's shoulders shook as she let out a cry. She shook her head and just motioned for him to follow her.

Keith frowned, annoyance and concern tugging on him.

He followed her onto the control deck, his shoulders tense.

"Allura." He said, awaiting an answer.

Allura grabbed something from the control panel and handed it to Keith. Keith took it and stared down at it. He gripped Lance's capsule tighter as he read the words carved into them. His tears dropped onto the letters as he read it over and over again. He looked up at Allura, his head spinning, "What happened?" He asked quietly, his voice shaking.

Allura held onto Keith's wrists as she composed herself, "We.. we don't know exactly but.. Shiro said that he was hurt... and we lost connection.. and then only Shiro returned.. we just.." Her voice gave out as she suppressed a sob.

Keith couldn't process what she just said, "But.. Pheylix was a harmless planet- how did he get hurt??" He asked, his voice growing.

Allura flinched as she let go of him, "Pheylix.. was a dying planet.. we only discovered that it was about to supernova _after_ they left.." She explained slowly.

Anger boiled up inside Keith as he took in her words, "So you mean to tell me that you sent them into a _bomb_?! Why the _hell_ didn't you tell them to come back?!" He yelled, his face hot.

Allura stared back in shock before letting her own emotions take over, "EVEN IF WE HAD TOLD THEM TO COME BACK, DO YOU THINK THEY WOULD'VE LISTENED?? I'VE ALREADY BLAIMED MYSELF AND I REALLY DON'T NEED _YOU_ POINTING OUT THE OBVIOUS!!" She screamed, hot tears streaming down her face as she let out her anger on him.

Keith stepped back and gripped the control panel, "I _wasn't_ trying to blame you.. I just, isn't there a way that we can see if he's still out there or if Pheylix-"

"Pheylix died over a varga ago." Allura answered dryly.

Keith inhaled quickly as he looked away from her, his fingers wrapped around the capsule. He felt tears burn in his eyes as he bit his lip. He shook his head as he turned to Allura, jabbing a finger into her chest, "You know what, maybe I am blaiming you. _All_ of this is _your_ fault. Without _you_ none of us would be in space and we wouldn't be going through all of this shit! Look, I know that you never really liked Lance, but dragging him into this and then sending him _to his death_ is so f*cking _low_!" Keith spat as he lashed out at her.

Allura's eyes widened before she pushed back, "Oh don't you _dare_. _I'm_ not the one who started an inter galactic war! _I'm_ not the one who brought Lance to the blue lion! _I_ _never_ wanted anyone to get hurt and I didn't _deliberately_ send him to Pheylix. And don't you even _think_ for a _tick_ that I don't care about Lance because he is the kindest person that I have ever met! Do not lash out on _me_ when _you_ are the one who HATES HIM" Allura screamed at Keith, her face hot as she breathed heavily.

Keith stared at her in shock, the capsule falling from his hands. He stumbled backward as Allura processed what she just said. She shook her head, "Keith wait I-"

Keith waved her off and abruptly stormed out of the room, his chest heaving as tears threatened to fall.

oOOo

Hunk stood with his arms folded infront of Pidge's cryo pod. He wanted more than anything to just _talk_ to her. She was one of the closest people to Lance, along with himself. And he had a small flicker of hope that if anyone could find Lance, it would be Pidge.

Hunk jumped as he heard the door open. He turned around and saw Keith walking in, his face looking worn.

"You should get some sleep." Hunk said quietly, his voice scratchy.

Keith shook his head and crossed his arms as he stood next to Hunk.

"Keith.." Hunk began.

Keith mindlessly interrupted him, "Did you think that I hate Lance?" He asked softly, his eyes not leaving the floor.

Hunk thought for a second before resonding, "Well.. no. I don't think anyone could hate him.. I always looked at your relationship as playful banter. He was your friend, no matter how much he pulled the _rivals_ card.." He replied.

Keith nodded, "I was actually just starting to like him." He chuckled softly.

Hunk gave a small smile, "We're going to find him.. Lance isn't the type to give up.. he has too much to fight for."

Keith looked at him, "Do you mean us?" He asked.

Hunk nodded, "Us and.. his family. He's always been insanely close to all his siblings and.. everyone really. He easily gets attached to people and _always_ goes out of his way to become their friend... He's just so outwardly kind _all the time_.. this just isn't _fair_.." Hunk said, his voice cracking.

Keith nodded, "I never thought about what you guys left behind.." He muttered sadly.

"What about you?" Hunk asked.

Keith shook his head, "I've always felt out of place on Earth. Coming here was like a new start but now.. I wish we _all_ could've stayed on Earth and become friends _there_."

Hunk smiled slightly and nudged Keith's shoulder, "You _do_ like us." He sniffed as he looked back to the pods, the small light feeling diminishing.

The two jumped as Pidge's pod slid open and she fell out. Keith rushed forward and caught her before she hit the ground.

"Wha.. how is she out already??" Hunk asked as Keith layed her down on the steps.

"Maybe she's healed?" Keith asked as he looked her over. Her visible injuries were gone and she seemed... fine.

"Should I get Coran?" Hunk asked, panic making its way into his voice.

Keith shook his head, "She's waking up."

Hunk was immediately kneeling next to her as she slowly opened her eyes. She let out a soft groan as she reached up and lightly touched her head.

"WhaHappened?" She mumbled as Keith helped her sit up.

"You were hurt by the explosions and you just came out of a cryo pod." Keith explained.

Pidge shook her head as she blinked a couple of times.

"Oh, here." Hunk said, handing her her glasses.

Pidge took them and slid them on, her hands twitching slightly.

"My head hurts.." She muttered, scrunching up her nose.

Hunk frowned as Keith raised his eyebrows, "Well.. you did breath in some of the air from Treylluciana." He said.

Hunk stared at him, "She _what_?"

Pidge stared at Hunk, "Is that bad?"

"Uh.. yeah. Treylluciana's atmosphere is filled with a blue gas that messes with the brain- how long were you breathing it in for?" Hunk asked.

Pidge shrugged as Keith shook his head.

Hunk groaned.

Pidge bit her lip as she looked around, letting out a small gasp, "Shiro!" She ran over to him, stumbling up the steps as she pressed her hands against the glass.

"He's back from the mission!" She exclaimed.

Hunk and Keith stared at eachother with wide eyes.

"Uh Pidge? Shiro's _been_ back.. the mission was over a year ago.." Hunk said.

Pidge's face dropped, "N..no they just left.. right? My dad and.. Matt! Where's Matt??" Pidge asked as she grabbed onto Keith's shirt.

Keith held onto Pidge's wrists, "Pidge.. something must've happened to your memories when you inhaled the gas.. the mission was over a year ago and you've been looking for Matt since then." He said softly.

Pidge shook her head as tears formed in her eyes, "No.. _no_ , okay, they _just_ left! We came into space after them with voltron and-"

"Wait, Pidge. What do you remember?" Hunk asked.

Pidge frowned, "Shiro, my dad and Matt left on the mission one month ago. After a week, they called Earth, asking for Voltron. We.. somehow, it's fuzzy right now.. but we made it to space and became voltron. Shiro and my family have been going from planet to planet to discover alien life while _we_ have been voltron. Shiro said that they were going to meet us on the ship soon and here he is but.. no one else is here." She explained.

Hunk turned to Keith, panic etched across his face.

Keith matched his expression, "Uh Pidge.. you're going to need to sit down."

Keith and Hunk then proceeded to explain to her everything that has happened in the past year. They told her all the details up until today.

Once they were finished, Pidge sat with her knees pulled to her chest, processing what they told her.

"Okay.. okay.. So my brain was damaged by the gas and what I know.. isn't real?" She asked, her face warm.

"Yeah... but don't worry.. we'll fix you up soon and then we can go get Lance-" Hunk cut off with a gasp. Keith flinched next to him.

Pidge stared at them and asked something that made both of their hearts drop, "Who's Lance?"

oOOo

 **Muahahahaha. I have a very angsty plan ahead and stay tuned for mah boi Lance's chapter coming next!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey everybody! So I think I might have confused some people about my "update" bc I was just playing around with the new update of the app and so there wasn't a chapter for that and this is like an actual update. Annywayy I'm sorry for the wait and for the upcoming angst and I hope you enjoy bc I've been really looking forward to this chapter since my story kind of branched off of this :)**

oOOo

 **Space**

Lance's eyes snapped open as he gasped for air. His eyes burned as he noticed the coldness of his suit. He took quick breaths as he started panicking. He felt hot tears spring to his eyes as he realised the situation he was in. The frozen ice was covering his faceplate and blocking his vision while his right side was covered in ice that left him numb. He groaned as he still felt the dull throbbing in his side and head. He wrapped his arms around himself and tried to make himself as small as he could, begging for some warmth. He let out a raspy cry as he allowed his tears to fall down, freezing to his bruised face. He squeezed his eyes shut as held himself tighter.

"B..Blue?" He asked quietly, his voice barely audible as he shook from the cold. His shoulders heaved as he chocked out a sob, his head throbbing harder.

"Blue? Allura?.. Hello?" He asked although he already knew deep in his gut that his comms were broken. He allowed himself to listen for any sign of a response, his hope depleting the longer he waited.

Lance took in a shaky breath as more tears rolled down his face, "I'm.. I'm sorry.." He said, his breathing becoming quick and raspy as he cried harder.

"I'm _so_ sorry... I.. I can't do this anymore.. I just _can't_." He sobbed, his hands going numb to how hard he was holding his sides.

"Blue.. please.. _please_.. I.. I can't die out.. here.. Please.." He begged, his heart racing, "I.. I know that I'm not the best Paladin.. or person, really but.. please.. I don't want to be alone.. I can't leave _them_.. alone, okay? M-My family.. I- _left_ them and I don't know if they know that- that I'm alive or what they're going through just _please_.. I.. I have to get back to them.." Lance cried, shaking his head as he continued, "I _can't_ be a Paladin, Blue.. I.. I'm not some skilled fighter.. and I'm not crazy smart.. I'm not even that good of a pilot.. or.. or a sharpshooter.. I'm just.. I'm just a failed fighter pilot from the Garrison.. I wasn't made for this.. and I.. I.. I'm _so sorry_.. that I let you down.. I.. I _can't_ do this, Blue.." Lance's voice faded to whisper as he let out another cry. His cry rose to a scream as his emotions over took him. He sobbed until his sides ached and his throat went dry.

He held onto his head as he squeezed his eyes shut, " _Please_.. Please, I'm sorry just _please_ don't leave me here.. I don't want to die.. I have to get back to my family.. please.. I can't do anything here.. and they _need_ me.. Blue.. please.. help me get back.. I'll help you find a new Paladin.. it's just.. it's _not_ me..please.. I'll just keep letting everyone down if I stay.. I.. I _have_ to get home.. I can't.." Lance's voice broke off as he surpressed a sob. He cried out as he let loose of all his kept up emotions. He never showed anyone how scared or vulnerable he was.. he hid behind a mask of jokes.. He was a joke.. That's what he thought of himself.. Here, being a Paladin.. Lance Mclain.. a Paladin of _Voltron_.. what a joke.. He's nothing but a failure.. a mistake.. He can't get anyhing right and _always_ messes up. It's a surprise to him that they haven't gotten rid of him yet. But he would _never_ show him that he felt this way.. afterall, why would the _goofball_ have anything to worry about, his life is a _joke_.

oOOo

Allura stared in shock at Keith after he finished explaining what had happened to Pidge. She looked over at Pidge who was sitting on the steps with a blanket draped across her soldiers.

"You.. don't remember.. what happened?" She asked hesitantly.

Pidge nodded, "And what I _do_ remember is a lie.." She placed her head in her hands.

Allura started pacing, "This cannot be happening.." She muttered as she threw her hands down at her sides, "How did this whole plan turn into such a disaster??" She exclaimed.

Coran placed a hand on her soldier.

Hunk gasped, "Oh my gosh, okay I just thought of something." He said, his eyes widening.

"Which is...?" Keith asked.

"Okay okay, so you now how we're connected to our lions? Well if Lance was actually gone then Blue should've had _some_ type of reaction right? I think we need to heal Blue _right now_ so if Lance is somehow alive then she can go and find him." Hunk explained.

Keith's eyes widened along with Hunk's, "That.. might work. Coran, are you guys finished with the tonics?" He asked.

Coran nodded, "As of right now I have enough ready for one lion." He answered as he began walking towards the lions.

"I'll get the ship ready incase Blue finds him so we can follow her." Allura said as she turned towards her control panel.

Pidge sat where she was, her fave scrunched up in confusion, "I'm sorry, who's Lance?" She asked.

Allura felt her breath hitch in her throat. She kept her eyes stuck on the controls as she explained, "Lance was your friend.. a close friend.. You two met at the Garrison and you play video games together.. He's almost like a brother to you." Allura answered quietly.

Pidge gasped as she looked at her hands, "Can.. can you show me what he looks like?" She asked.

Allura nodded and pulled up a picture of Lance from the Garrison. He was holding up finger guns as he grinned at the camera, "He was.. _is_ always so light hearted... and he has the _worst_ jokes but they make us laugh anyway.." Allura explained.

Pidge walked up and stared at the picture in awe. "I'm sorry I don't remember him.. I hope we find him." Pidge said.

"You don't have to be sorry.. and we will find him.. soon, hopefully." Allura responded, placing a hand on Pidge's soldier.

oOOo

"Okay, here's the tonic and all you have to is throw the dust at the lion." Coran explained as he handed Keith the small bowl of powder.

Keith nodded and walked towards Blue, who was laying on her side. "Here you go." He said quietly as he threw the dust on her. He stepped back and watched impatiently. Blue stayed on the ground for a moment before her eyes slowly faded back to it's normal yellow.

"It worked." Keith breathed.

"Oh my gosh, Blue you've never looked so beautiful." Hunk gased as Blue stood up. "What do we do now?" He asked Coran.

"Ask her to find him." He answered.

"Blue? Can you find Lance? We lost contact with him and we don't know where he is or if he's.." Hunk's voice faded out.

He looked up, "Why isn't she do anything?" Hunk asked as Blue lay motionless.

Coran shrugged, his face twisted in worry.

Keith stepped forwards and placed his hand on Blue's particle barrier, "Hey.. Your Paladin is missing and we _need_ to find him.. He's lost and probably scared.. can you please help us find him?" He asked, his voice quiet.

Blue took down her particle barrier as she let out a roar. She bent down and opened the entrance.

Keith stepped back and looked at Coran and Hunk who motioned him forward, "Maybe she'll take you to him." Hunk said.

Keith nodded and hesitantly walked towards blue. He stepped into her cock pit and headed towards the chair. He sat down and gently placed his hands on the controls, his breathing uneven. Blue turned on and pushed the chair forward. Keith gasped, "Thank you." He said.

"Now.. lead me to him." He said. Blue roared as she took off out of the castle.

"The Blue lion is awake and leading Keith to Lance!" Hunk yelled through the comms.

"I'm having the ship follow him." Allura responded as she locked onto Blue and sped forward, her hands gripped tightly around the controls.

Keith was filled with dread as Blue flew across space. His anxiety picked up as he thought about what they might find.

oOOo

Lance drifted back into conciousness once again. He was completely numb and could hardly keep his eyes open. He had no idea how long he's been in this position but he did know one thing. He just wanted to go home. He wanted all of this to end and he wanted more than anything to be back home with his family. Lance took in a slow, shaky breath, the cold stinging his throat. He closed his eyes, "Is anyone there?" He asked quietly, his voice breaking.

Lance flinched as his head screamed in protest. He couldn't feel anything but the utter pain that came from the feeling of not knowing what was going to happen to him.

"I'm.. still here." Lance whispered as he drifted out of consiousness again, all his hope drifiting away as his eyes closed.

oOOo

Keith felt sweat roll down his face as his hands went numb from gripping the controls.

"Do you see anything?" Allura asked, her voice tense.

"Not yet.." Keith answered.

He strained his eyes as Blue passed a rather bright star. She roared as she turned and sped forwards. She jerked to a stop as she let out a growl.

"What is it?" Keith asked as he looked out into space.

His eyes scanned the view ahead of him.

"Keith? I lost Blue, where are you?" Allura asked.

"Hold on.. I think she's found something." Keith responded.

He leaned forward, his breathing unsteady. Keith felt his heart skip a couple of beats as his eyes locked on to something in the distance. He moved Blue forward until they were only a couple of feet away from it. Keith felt hot tears well in his eyes as he caught sight of what it was, "Lance." He breathed as he turned to leave Blue. He ran out of the cock pit and activated his jet pack the moment he entered space. He propelled himself towards Lance, his arms outstretched. His heart sped up as he grabbed on to Lance's arms. He gasped as he felt the cold through his gloves.

Keith held Lance's limp body as he raced back to Blue, "Come on, Lance." He muttered as he entered the lion.

He dragged Lance over to the chair and sat him against the wall. Keith took in deep breaths as he reached forward to take Lance's helmet off, his hands shaking. Keith hesistated with his hands on the helmet before gently lifted it off, the ice breaking as he did. Keith gasped as he stared at Lance's face. He had a bloody gash running down the side of his face and he was covered in dirt. Keith could see tear streaks still on Lance's face and his heart dropped. Keith's eyes made there way to Lance's side. He reached forward and tried to remove the ice. He noticed that Lance had wrapped himself in leaves and vines. He felt slightly more relieved as he saw no new blood.

Keith finally reached over and checked for Lance's pulse, his dread increasing as he did so.

He felt it very faintly under his fingertips. Keith sighed as he held onto Lance's shoulder.

"Allura.. I got him and.. he's alive." Keith said, his voice shaking with relief.

Allura gasped and let out a laugh of relief, "Bring him in." She said.

Keith nodded and was about to get into the chair but Lance jolted awake with a yell.

Keith immediately kneeled back down and held onto Lance's arms, "Hey, hey, Lance, It's me, It's Keith.. it's okay." He said as Lance looked around wildly.

Lance eyes locked onto Keith as tears welled in his eyes. Lance gripped onto Keith's arms as he let his head fall back. He closed his eyes and let out a cry of relief, his body trembling.

"That was scary.." Lance laughed out of relief, tears streaming down his face.

Keith nodded and pulled Lance into a hug, holding onto him tightly as his own body shook. Lance hugged back with all his strength, burying his face into Keith's shoulder as he let his tears fall. Keith let out a shaky breath as he closed his eyes.

"We.. we thought you were gone." Keith said, his voice cracking as he pulled back, still hold Lance's arms.

Lance gave a slight nod as he took a deep breath, "How's Shiro?" He asked quietly, looking at his lap.

"He's fine.. you saved him, Lance." Keith said, his mouth twitching up at the corners.

Lance's eyes widened as he sighed in relief, looking up at Keith. He frowned as he reached up and touched the cut on Keith's forehead, "What happnened?" He asked.

Keith scoffed, "You're the one who almost died and you're worried about _me_.." He said.

Lance shrugged slightly before allowing his head to rest against the wall, sudden pain etched across his face.

"Lance?" Keith asked, his voice thick with concern.

Lance just shook his head and held his side. Keith's eyes widened as he realised that the numbness was going away and Lance was able to feel the pain again.

Keith gripped his shoulder, "Just hold on, you'll be back soon.. just.. hold on." He stammered as he sat in the chair and flew Blue towards the ship.

Allura opened the hangar as Keith flew in. Once Blue was landed he kneeled down next to Lance, "Come on, buddy." Keith said as he helped Lance up, holding him close to his side as he drapped his arm across his shoulders.

Lance gritted his teeth as his eyes rolled around dully. Keith helped him out of Blue and towards the others.

The moment he was out of Blue he heard the gasps of the others.

"We have to get him to a Cryo Pod, he's completely out of it right now." Keith said.

Hunk ran over and supported Lance from the other side as the two practically carried him to the Pod. They gently placed him inside and allowed it to turn on.

Keith let out a breath of relief as he saw Lance's face relax. He stared down and grimaced as he noticed the blood on his left hand.

"He's alive." Hunk breathed, tears in his eyes.

Allura nodded, to relieved to speak.

"He'll be okay." Keith said as he stared at the pod.

He jumped as he heard Shiro's pod open and saw him come out. Allura went over and slowly helped him out as he drowsily looked around.

"How are you feeling?" She asked as she sat him on the steps. Hunk came over and draped a blanket around his shoulders.

Shiro stiffled a yawn as he cleared his head, "Better." He muttered, rubbing his eyes.

Keith smiled, "I'm glad you're okay." He said, walking over to him.

Shiro smiled, "Keith.. is Pidge back too?" He asked, looking around.

Keith nodded, "But.. something happened to her.." He then began to explain what happened, his throat growing tight as he did.

By the time he had finished, Shiro had his head in his hands, "Why is this happening? First it was Lance-" He cut off with a gasp, his eyes begining to water.

Keith placed a hand on his shoulder, "Lance is okay, Shiro." He said.

Shiro's eyes widened as he whipped around. He caught sight of Lance's pod and ran over to it, pressing his hand against the glass.

"Lance." He whispered, shaking with relief.

"How did you find him?" He asked.

"Blue took me to him." Keith answered, standing next to Shiro.

Shiro looked at him, " _Blue_ let you pilot her?" He asked.

Keith nodded, "I still don't know how."

"You must've said something to her.. I don't know any other way for someone else to pilot a different lion unless they have a connection with it." Shiro said.

Allura stepped forward, "Actually.. if the _Paladins_ have a strong connection then they can pilot the others lion in times of need. The lions are very understanding and caring creatures.. they are more than willing to help the right person if it's to save their Paladin." She explained.

Keith looked back at Lance and thought about what Allura said. He smiled to himself as he realised what it meant.

oOOo

 **And there my lovelies is a very langsty, Klancey chapter. I enjoyed writing this and I hope you enjoyed reading it :) More to come hopefully soooon**


	7. Chapter 7

**Helloooo! Wow it's almost been two weeks and I apologise for that but writers block is the literal devil. Anyway, can we frickin talk about season five and how frickin GREAT IT WAS?? We got angry Holts, sweet yellow baby, MY SON KEITH AND MY SON LANCE BEING AMAZING AND LANCE'S CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT HAD ME SHOOK, I CRIED GUYS. If I keep going I'll spoil everything so if you haven't, watch season 5, it's a blessing and I miss red paladin Keith, ok. Anyway, as usual, I hope you enjoy!!!**

oOOo

Keith tapped his foot impatiently as he stood in front of Lance's cryo pod. He could hear Shiro pacing behind him while Hunk kept going back in forth from Lance to Pidge. He was in the corner of the room with Allura and Pidge while Coran worked on the remaining tonic's. Keith could here them talking quietly about Pidge's condition while also having long pauses that he knew were spent staring at the pod. Keith felt the same uneasiness that he experienced the first time that Lance was in a cryo pod but this time seemed worse. This time.. Lance would have more than just physical damage. Keith couldn't even imagine what he had gone through.. and the fact that it was Lance seemed to make it far worse.

"How much longer until he's out?" Shiro asked, turning to Allura.

She looked up at him, "He's experienced major wounds and bloodloss along with hypothermia and a concussion.. he's already been in there a day so I would give it a couple of vargas.." She answered, her eyes straying on the pod before returning to Pidge.

Keith heard Shiro huff.

"Shiro.. why don't you come with me to heal the lions and then you should really eat something." Coran suggested.

Shiro shook his head, "No.. I'm not leaving until Lance is out." He responded stubbornly.

Coran frowned, "You standing here all melancholy isn't going to speed up his healing process and.. it wasn't really a request." He said before motioning for Shiro to follow him.

Shiro glanced at Lance before letting out a small groan and following Coran.

Keith watched him go, understanding how badly he wanted to stay. Keith wasn't even on the planet with Lance and he still felt terrible.. He just hoped that Shiro wasn't blaming himself.

"I've got it!" Allura exclaimed as she pulled up a screen from the center control panel.

"Got what?" Hunk asked, peering over her shoulder.

"I figured out what effected Pidge's mind. It was a type of gas in the air, like you said and it somehow altered her memories. It took her last thought and changed all her memories to make it believe that it was true." Allura explained.

Hunk stared at her, "So.. what was her last thought?" He asked, glancing at Pidge who shrugged.

Allura scanned through her screen, "It was of.. us.. her family. She wanted all of us to be together along with her earth family.. but it seems that they were altered in a different way than what she wanted." She answered, looking over at Pidge.

Pidge felt her face go hot but didn't say anything.

Hunk bit his lip, "Okay... so, how do we fix it?"

Allura gave a small hum as she pulled something up, "There is a healing pearl that is found on a water planet called, Mesmoride. They're quite easy to find as it is the most populated thing growing on the planet but to get to it we need the.. Blue lion." She explained, her voice tightening towards the end.

Keith tensed up as he heard Hunk let out a huff of disbelief, "Of _course._ " He muttered. Keith flinched at how the normally cheerful paladin's tone sounded so dry. He let out a sigh, "Are you sure that's the only way?" Keith asked, turning to face the group.

Allura gave a small nod, "As much as I wish for there to be an easier way.. this is the best we can do and if we wait any longer, I don't know what will happen to Pidge's mind." She answered.

Keith huffed, "Well that's just _great_ , except for the fact that the _Blue_ paladin is kind of unavailable right now." He snapped, feeling his temper rise.

Allura looked taken aback before responding, "I understand that, Keith... but _you_ did pilot the Blue lion before.. who's to say that you can't do it again?" She asked softly.

Keith closed his eyes and took in a breath, "I don't know if she'll let me again.. her paladin isn't in danger anymore.." He replied.

"We could still try.." Hunk suggested.

Keith gave a curt nod and glanced at Pidge who looked lost and out of place. He felt his shoulders sag as he realized how helpless she felt. He let out a sigh before looking back at Lance's pod and then heading towards the hanger.

Keith felt his heart speed up as he stared up at Blue through her barrier. He took in a deep breath as he pressed his hand against it, "Hey.. uh.. Look, I know that I'm not your paladin and that.. I'm far from what he is but.. I need your help. You're the only one that can go to Mesmoride and we really need you.. please." He said, trying to be as gentle as possible.

Blue let out a soft growl but remained unresponsive. Keith grew impatient, "Hello? I need your help... right now.. Blue, come on.. please?" He asked.

Blue's barrier faltered before it was brought down. She slowly bent down and opened the entrance for Keith.

"Thank you." Keith said as he entered the lion.

He quickly sat down and took hold of the controls, "I'll be back as soon as I can." Keith told Allura through the comms.

"Alright, I'll have the ship follow you and we'll be right outside the planets atmosphere so you can get to us.. and please be careful." Allura responded.

Keith gave a nod and then led Blue out of the ship.

oOOo

Keith fidgeted in his seat as they neared Mesmoride, his fingers twitching. He had Blue enter the planet and felt his breath hitch as they submerged into the clear water. Keith pulled up the screen of what the pearls looked like and then proceeded to scan the floor of the ocean like planet. He let out a breath as he noticed a collection of the pearls.

"There you are." He muttered as he got up to exit Blue.

Keith propelled himself forward and reached for the pearls. He scooped up a handful of them and placed them in his capsule. He whipped around as he heard a noise, causing his shoulders to tense. Keith quickly headed towards Blue but stopped when something swam in front of him, leaving behind a bright orange streak.

"What..?" Keith gasped as he watched the creature swim around him, the streaks blocking his vision of Blue. Keith activated his bayard but not before the creature swam towards him and threw itself into his shoulder. Keith let out a yell as he felt a surging hot pain erupt through his arm. He held onto his shoulder with one hand while his other stayed securely around his Bayard. He followed the creature as it quickly circled him, getting ready for another attack. As it lunged forward, Keith quickly reached up and impaled the creature before it made contact with him.

He let out a startled gasp as it shriveled up into dust and fell to the ground. Keith stared at it in shock before quickly making his way to Blue, his shoulder throbbing.

Keith stumbled into the lion and fell into the chair. He looked down and groaned as he noticed that the armour had a crack in it and that small droplets of blood were creeping through. Keith took a deep breath as he looked away from it and contacted Allura.

"I'm coming back now." He said as he flew Blue away from the planet, his hands gripped around the controls.

Keith flew the lion into her hangar and made a move to leave but Blue stopped him with a roar. Keith stared at the controls before slowly sitting back down.

"What is it?" He asked as he scanned through her monitor.

She let out a softer roar as she pulled up a screen that appeared to be an audio message.

Keith squinted at it, "What's this?"

Blue's only response was to play the message.

Keith tensed up at the soft static in the beginning before it abruptly cut off.

"B..Blue?" Lance's voice cut through the recording. Keith gasped as his eyes widened.

"Blue? Allura?... Hello?" Lance asked, his voice breaking. Keith felt his breathing pick up as he listened to the helplessness in the paladins voice.

"I'm.. I'm sorry.. I.. I can't do this anymore." Lance cried, his raspy breaths cutting through the silence. Keith reached forward and held onto the control panel, his heart pounding as he listened to the message.

He felt his shoulders sag and heart drop as Lance said that he didn't belong here and that he wasn't meant to be a paladin. Keith felt tears roll down his face as Lance expressed how much he missed his family and that he _needed_ to get home. But what made Keith break down was that Lance mentioned that he wasn't good enough and that he was a mistake. Lance's sobs caused Keith to shut off the message before it finished, furiously slamming his hand down on the control panel.

Keith stared in shock at the floor as his tears flowed freely, his shoulders shaking.

How could he have not at least _noticed_ that Lance was doubting himself and that something was wrong. Keith didn't even want to think about how long Lance had been feeling this way.

Keith looked up through Blue's eyes and let out a shaky breath, "Let me out." He said, his voice dry.

He stood up and quickly left the lion as she let out a roar.

Keith didn't even realise that he was sprinting towards the pods as his heart pounded faster.

oOOo

 **Previously**

Hunk jumped as the doors opened and Shiro walked in with Coran following him, holding a plate of food goo.

"I really insist-" Coran was saying before Shiro interrupted him.

"Coran.. I appreciate you trying to help but I just can't eat right now.." He said softly, his voice tired.

Coran gave a small nod before setting the plate down, "Alright.. well, the lions are healed and Keith should be back in about a varga.. How are you all doing?" He asked.

He was given a silent response as Hunk shrugged.

Coran frowned and then glanced towards the pod. He sniffed a little, "I.. should.. uh.. excuse me." Coran muttered as he left the room, searching for something to busy himself.

Allura looked after him with concern, her heart aching. She then looked back at the pod and realised for the first time just how everything started going wrong the _moment_ they lost contact with Lance. She rested her elbows on her knees as she rubbed her temples.

Allura glanced over at Pidge, who had fallen asleep on one of the steps, her face tense. Her gaze then wandered to Hunk fidgeting next to her and then to Shiro standing in front of Lance's pod.

She got up and slowly walked over to him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, "How are you doing?" She asked softly.

"Fine." He answered shortly.

Allura frowned, "Shiro, please don't bla-"

Shiro turned to face her, "Don't blame myself? Too late." He scoffed, holding his head in one hand as his eyes widened, "I can't even fathom that this happened to him. _I_ was supposed to look after him, I was going to help him because he was _hurt-_ oh no.." Shiro placed both hands over his face as he let out a groan.

Allura held onto his arms, "What is it?"

Shiro laughed dryly as he removed his hands, his eyes teary, "Lance was _hurt_ and he still managed to get _me_ off of that planet. _He_ should've been the one to make it off- why didn't he just go on without me??" He asked, his voice cracking.

Allura held onto Shiro's arms tighter, "Because you're his hero.. he looks up to you and.. I don't know if he was able to get off the planet at the time.. his helmet was smashed and part of his suit was damaged. It's not hard to imagine _why_ he decided to get you and the supplies off of the planet as soon as possible.. he didn't think he would make it. But _something_ must've pushed him to do the impossible and make it out of there.. it might've been _you_ , Shiro.. you've inspired him in so many ways already.." Allura said, her tone serious and straight.

Shiro stared down at her hands and sniffed, "I just hope he's okay.." He whispered.

"We all do.." Allura responded.

The two paladins jumped as Lance's pod opened, letting out a cloud of steam. Shiro moved forward and caught Lance as he drowsily stepped out.

"Hey, there bud." Shiro said as he placed him on the steps.

He heard Hunk let out a noise and before he knew it the yellow paladin was rushing forward and enveloping Lance in a bear hug.

"Lance, you're okay!!" He cheered.

Lance looked taken aback but then quickly hugged his friend, his face brightening.

"Hey guys." Lance said, his voice slightly hoarse.

"Oh I'm so relieved to see you." Allura breathed as she moved forward to hug him after Hunk let him go.

Lance hugged her back, shaking slightly.

"Oh, I'll get you a blanket." Hunk said as he rushed away.

Lance looked after him, a small smile on his face. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Shiro. Lance let out a gasp before hugging the black paladin.

Shiro let out a relieved laugh as he hugged him tightly. He pulled back and held onto Lance's shoulders and stared him in the face, "Don't you _ever_ do anything like that again." Shiro stated, his gaze softening once he finished.

Lance nodded and chuckled slightly, his knees going weak with relief, "I never thought that I would see this place again.." He confessed as he sat on the steps.

Allura and Shiro sat on either side of him.

"Lance.. I am _so_ proud of you.. not just because you were able to save me and the supplies.. but because you thought of using the ice to seal your suit.. that was briliant." Shiro said as he placed a hand on Lance's shoulder.

Lance felt his heart swell.

"How did you think of that?" Allura asked.

Lance looked at her and thought for a moment, "Well.. after I sent Shiro into space.. I just sat down and listened.. I could hear the cracking of the ground.. and the explosions.. and.. I just started having all these flashback's.. I don't know where they came from but.. I think they reminded me of what I was fighting for.. my family, back on Earth... and all of you... It just hit me and that's when I realised that I wasn't going to die on that planet.. Once I reached space though, I had no idea.. I was terrified.." Lance explained, his face growing hot.

Allura and Shiro were quiet and the silence was interrupted by Hunk returing with an armful of blankets. He set them up around Lance and proudly nodded at his work. Lance let out a laugh that he didn't realise he was capable of doing.

He felt tears roll down his face but gave a smile, "I'm just so _relieved_.." He said, his voice barely audible as he looked at the ground.

Shiro and Allura hugged him from either side and Hunk quickly joined in.

"We are too." Shiro responded.

"Wha.. What are you guys doing?" A drowsy voice came from the corner of the room.

The group broke apart their hug and looked over at Pidge.

Lance's face brightened, "Pidge!" He exclaimed as he rushed over and lifted her into a hug.

Pidge let out a surprised squeak and then laughed lightly as Lance spun her around.

Lance returned her to the ground and looked her over, " _Please_ tell me that you had a better time than me." He almost begged.

Pidge's smile faded as she looked at Lance, "I.. can't." She whispered.

Lance faltered, "Wh-what?" He asked, looking over his shoulder at the others.

Allura walked over to them, "There's something we need to tell you." She said as she pulled up a screen of Pidge's bio monitor.

Allura slowly explained what had happened to Pidge's mind and how her memories were effected.

Lance's face fell and his shoulders sagged as he looked at Pidge, "You don't remember me?" He asked quietly.

Pidge shook her head solemly, "I'm sorry.." She said.

Lance blinked, "Not even.. it was _yesterday_.. You took a video of me dancing and then I stole your laptop and you chased me around the castle- you don't remember that?" He asked as he stood up.

"No.." Pidge answered, her face falling.

Lance stared at her in disbelief, looking between her and the bio monitor. He felt hot tears prick at his eyes, "What about Keith? Did he breathe the air too?" He asked.

Allura shook her head, "No.. he was unaffected except for a burn.. he's on a planet as we speak collecting something for Pidge's condition." She explained.

Lance almost laughed, "We have to stop going to unknown planets.." He muttered, placing his head in his hands.

Hunk rested a hand on his shoulder, "It's okay.. Keith will be back and then we'll help Pidge and.. everything will be okay.." He said softly.

"Yes.. it'll get better and then-" Allura began.

Lance snapped, " _No!_ " He yelled, his face suddenly hot and his fists clenched, "None of this is okay! We will never be okay! In just a day we've somehow managed to loose half of our team just because we flat out panicked over our lions being sick! This isn't something that is just going to get better!!" Lance yelled, hot tears in his eyes.

The others stared back at him in shock.

Lance huffed and looked at the floor, "I'm sorry.. I just.. I have to go." He said before quickly making way for the door.

Shiro reached out to him but Allura stopped him, "He needs some time.." She said softly.

Lance opened the doors and walked out without a second glance at his teammates. He felt his tears roll down his face and wiped at them angrily. Lance's vision blurred and he almost yelled out as he collided with something while rounding the corner. The paladin fell to the floor, his face hot.

Lance looked up at what he ran into and saw Keith staggering backward as he rubbed his head.

" _Keith_?" Lance asked, looking up at him.

Keith stopped and immediately looked at Lance, his eyes widening.

Lance stared at him in shock as he noticed tear streaks on his face.

" _Lance_??" Keith asked in disbelief. He bent down and quickly helped him up, holding onto his arm and hand.

Keith looked him over, his breath uneven.

Lance did the same, his eyes falling on Keith's cracked armor that was tacky with blood.

"What..?" Lance asked quietly as he reached out and touched it.

Keith scoffed, "Again with you being concerned over me having a small cut." He said as he pulled Lance into a hug.

Lance hesitated before returning the hug, embracing the familiar feeling. He was shocked as he suddenly felt tears streaming down his face, his feeling of unease returing as fast as it left.

When the two pulled apart, Keith's eyes widened as he caught sight of Lance's face, "Lance what's-"

But Lance shook his head before quickly walking past the paladin, wiping at his tears.

Keith stared after him, an aching pain in his chest.

oOOo

 **Hey Lance is up, woohoo! Yeah, more angst to come for mah boys and Pidge, definitely. But shiz is about to get more real than it already is.**


	8. Chapter 8

**HELLO!!!! Holy heck it has been far TOO LONG since I last updated and I sincerely apologise for that but now I'm back and with more ideas!!! And thank you for all of your kind words about my author's note, you have no idea how much they helped me and HOW ABOUT THAT NEW CONTENT THOUGH?? Like seriously, season 6 was so good and I have so many things to say but I'll wait until the end of the chapter to scream about it to prevent spoilers. ANYWAY, I think a new chapter is way past due so here you go!!**

oOOo

Keith stared after Lance with a growing pain tightening in his chest and was about to run after him before he remembered the capsule that was currently attached to his suit.

Keith shook his head and turned on his heels before heading towards the others. He could feel the tension building in the air before he even entered the room.

"He's right, you know." Shiro was saying as Keith neared the room.

"I _know_ he is!" Allura's voice cut through the air with a snap.

Keith scratched the back of his neck upon entering the room, his face going hot as everyone turned towards him.

He watched as Allura's face softened, "Thank goodness." She breathed as she crossed the room to get to him.

Keith silently reached behind him and unlocked the capsule before holding it out to Allura.

"I got them." Keith stated as she gratefully took the capsule and opened it.

Allura sighed, "Thank you, Keith- I must get these to Coran immediately." She said before removing herself from the room quickly.

Keith nodded after her and then looked back to the others. They stood in silence for a moment before Keith cleared his throat, "Uh... I saw Lance."

Shiro and Hunk glanced at eachother and then looked back at Keith.

"Y-Yeah he came out of the pod not to long ago and we talked to him.. and then.." Hunk began but then trailed off as he looked over at Shiro again, who's face was pinched together.

Keith blinked, "And then _what_ \- And don't tell me it's nothing because I _saw_ how he looked when he was running out of here!" He snapped upon watching Shiro open his mouth to interject.

Shiro sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "We just.. We were trying to reassure him- ourselves too- but then I guess it came out wrong and.. we just.. we messed this whole thing up, Keith."

Keith crossed his arms, waiting for him to continue.

Shiro took a deep breath and looked at the ceiling for a second, "Lance.. he was right.. He said that we panicked over something that we could've handled better if we had just taken a moment to _think_ about what to do instead of rushing into a plan that was half understood and not thoroughly thought out. He.. I don't know what's going on in his head and-"

"I do." Keith interrupted, his voice quiet.

"What?" Shiro asked, looking over at him.

Keith let out a dry laugh and shook his head, "I know what happened to him- in space."

"W-What do you mean?" Hunk asked, his hands clasped tightly together as he swallowed nervously.

Keith looked at the floor, his voice tight, "Well, I don't know what was going on in his head exactly but, I heard what he was saying when he was in space. When he was alone." Keith looked up, his eyes stinging,

"Blue showed me a-an audio clip that she caught when Lance was.. um.. anyway, he.. he was _scared_ a-and lost and he kept talking about how he didn't belong and that he was sorry that he wasn't good enough-" Keith's words started falling out of his mouth too quickly.

"H-He told Blue that he was _sorry_ that he couldn't be the paladin that she deserved and that if he ever came back that he would help her find someone new because he _doesn't belong here_. He thinks that it was a mistake for him to come here and all he wants to do is go _home_ because he feels so useless here!" Keith's eyes are suddenly wet and the room is too hot and he's just now processing the fact that Lance has felt like a _mistake_ for lord knows how long.

Keith looks over and sees Shiro staring at the floor, his eyes wide as hand covers his mouth.

Keith turns as Hunk's voice breaks through the silence, "I.. I never realised. He's always so happy a-and care free that I just.. I _didn't know_." Hunk stutters, tears threatening to spill over.

Keith reaches out and grips the yellow paladin's arm, "None of us knew. None of us could even _tell-_ and we don't know how long he's been doubting himself or how long he-" Keith stops abruptly as he looks around.

"Where's Pidge?" He asks quietly.

Shiro finally breaks away from his moment of shock as he looks around as well, "I.. she was just here a second ago."

"We gotta go find her a-and Lance." Hunk says as he starts towards the door.

Shiro follows him and Keith goes to do the same but stops with a gasp as pain erupts through his shoulder.

Oh, right. His shoulder.

Keith glances down and wipes at the blood seeping through his armor. He grimaces at the look of it and shrugs it off as he heads towards the door, his mind focused on something more important.

oOOo

Lance sat with his legs drawn to his chest as he huddled against the corner of his bed, one of his hands mindlessly curled into his sheets.

He blinks dully at the floor as his mind races with _what he just did_. He sat in silence as the memories of what happened began flowing into his mind, making his head ache.

Lance leaned to the side slightly and rested his head against the wall, allowing his eyes to slip close. He took a deep breath and hugged himself tighter, his throat tightening as he tried to breathe.

A knock on the door caused Lance to flinch and shrink towards the wall.

"Lance?" Lance perks up as he hears Pidge's voice.

He sits up and looks towards the door, "Pidge?" He calls, his voice wavering slightly.

"Y-Yeah, um.. I was wondering if I could come in?" She asks, her voice soft.

Lance nods rapidly, "Of course."

Lance scoots to the edge of the bed as the doors slide open, allowing Pidge to enter before closing behind her.

"What's up?" Lance asks, a fake smile plastered on his face.

Pidge frowns as she walks over and sits next to him, "You don't have to.. You shouldn't have to pretend that you're okay." She says quietly.

Lance's face falls as he looks down at his clasped hands, "I.. I know.. it's just.." His voice shrinks to a whisper and then trails off.

Pidge stares at him, "What?"

Lance looks at her, his eyes shiny, "It's just.. I'm the goofball, you said it yourself and I know you don't know that but it's true! I crack jokes and don't things as seriously as I should which created this picture of what I should be, you know? I'm the light hearted comic relief that can't take anything seriously!" Lance begins talking quickly, his face growing hot,

"But it's hard sometimes! I've built myself up to be this big goofball and then when I.. When I start doubting myself or-or feeling homesick it feels to stupid to bring it up because hey- what could _Lance_ have to worry about, right? He's just the idiotic-"

" _Lance_." Pidge stops him, her hand on his shoulder.

Lance looks over at her and feels tears escape his eyes.

"You.. You shouldn't have to hide the fact that you're hurting. I know that I don't really understand who you are but I do know that pretending to be okay only makes the pain worse. And you're _not_ just a goofball, sure it's one of your attributes but Allura told me how kind hearted you are and how you're an _amazing_ sharpshooter. She said that the Blue Lion chose _you_ for a reason, and it's because of who _you are_." Pidge told him, placing her hand over his heart.

Lance's breath caught in his throat and he stared at Pidge in silence before leaning forward and hugging her, his shoulders shaking.

Pidge hesitated for a second before returning the action gratefully.

"Thanks.. I know that you don't know what's going on but... we'll get it figured out." Lance said quietly as he pulled back.

A small smile played on Pidge's lips, "Yeah.. and we'll help you too."

Lance frowns slightly but shakes it off quickly, "So um- what do you.. know exactly?"

"About what?"

"Just like.. how do you remember things, how did you get to the Castle of Lions and form Voltron and.. all that I guess." Lance explains.

Pidge nods, "Well... we found the Blue Lion because Keith was drawn to her energey. Hunk and I just tagged along when he told us about it at the Garrison. And um.. once we found her she took us to the Castle through a wormhole. That's when found Allura and Coran. She explained everything to us the same way she did for you and um.. oh Hunk and I were given the Yellow and Green Lions while Allura got Red. The Black Lion... she's piloted by Shiro but it's fuzzy as to how that happened..." Pidge trails off as her face twists in frustration, "I don't. I don't know how this works out.."

Lance pats her shoulder, "It's okay.. you'll understand soon and then.. yeah, it'll be fine." He reassures her but turns away as he thinks about what she said. How she remembers everything. How it could've worked out that way... without him.

"Pidge? Lance?" A voice echoes through the hall, causing the two paladins to head towards the door.

"Keith?" Pidge calls as she steps out of the room.

She finds him at the end of the hallway and runs over to him.

"Keith what's- oh my god!" She exclaims as she points at the bloody crack on Keith's chest plate.

Keith takes in her shocked expression and waves it off, "It's fine, it looks worse than it is-"

"Keith-" Pidge begins, reaching towards it.

"I said it's fine!" Keith snaps, and Pidge steps back slightly as she watches his eyes flash with orange.

Keith blinks and then shakes his head before looking up at Lance, "Coran is finished with the tonic for Pidge." He states before turning on his heel and walking away, his hand messaging his head.

Lance shares a worried glance with Pidge before running after him.

"Keith!" Lance calls as he falls in step with the paladin.

"Keith, are you okay?"

"Are _you_ okay?" Keith asks, stopping abrupty and staring at Lance.

Lance blinks, "What?"

Keith shakes his head again, "Blue showed me a recording of what you were saying while you were in space."

Lance's eyes widen slightly, "O-Oh I- Keith, I-" But he's cut off as Allura runs into the hallway.

"The tonic is ready- Pidge come quickly." She says as she motions hastily for the youngest paladin, who stares at the two boys in front of her worriedly before following Allura.

Lance watches her go and then looks at Keith again. He's taken aback when he sees the tears in his eyes.

"Keith?" Lance asks, his chest tightening.

"Why didn't you say anything?" His voice is surprisingly soft.

Lance shakes his head, "I don't-"

"Don't play dumb, Lance. You know what I'm talking about." Keith's voice is slightly louder.

Lance stares back at him, "Oh, like you suddeny care about what's going on with me?"

Keith blinks and then steps towards Lance, "What?- _Of course_ I care! You're still my friend despite how often you play the rival card and I'm just confused as to why you didn't say anything!"

"You want to know why I didn't say anyhing??" Lance huffs, "Because I'm the goofball! I'm the guy who can't take anything seriously and who gets ignored because it's just _Lance_ , what the hell could he have to say?? Something dumb probably! I'm the one who's supposed to be stupidly happy all the time and who cracks jokes at bad times and who clearly isn't capable of actually being serious, right??" Lance is almost yelling as the words fly out of his mouth, unaware of his mind telling him that he's already said this and that he's not-

"I'm just Lance! I'm just the seventh wheel who can't get anything right and who-"

"Lance, stop!" Keith yells as he grabs onto Lance's shoulders.

Lance takes in a quick breath as his heart races in his chest.

"You are _not_ just the goofball, alright? You're a great paladin and sharpshooter and friend and I'm so _sorry_ that we let you fall so far to the point where you're doubting yourself so much.. You work hard to be a good paladin- which you _are-_ and you're so much more than you think, trust me!" Keith doesn't know what he's saying until the words are out of his mouth.

Lance stares at him in shock for a second, his mouth open slightly before his knees buckle and he's falling as fast as the tears that are cascading down his face.

Keith grabs onto Lance in surprise and falls to the ground with him, pulling Lance into a hug as the blue paladin breaks.

Lance grips onto the back of Keith's armor as he cries into his shoulder, his chest heaving as he chokes in his words, "I'm sorry- I'm sorry-" He repeats as his sobs rack his body.

Keith keeps one hand around Lance's back as he places another behind his head, "It's okay, Lance.. it's okay." His voice is barely audible but it's all Lance needs as he relaxes slightly.

The two sit there for a while, neither knowing how long they've been there before Lance calms down, his body shaking. He still holds onto Keith as tightly as before, thinking that if he let go then all of this would dissappear and he would be back in space, blind and in pain and drifting aimlessly and cold and alone and-

"Lance?" Keith's quiet voice breaks through Lance's rattled thoughts.

"Yeah?" Lance finds his voice to be too small when he answers.

"You're going to be okay.. trust me." Keith says softly.

Lance lets out a small laugh, and can't do anything but nod slightly.

Keith barely catches the action but a small smile tugs at his lips as he hugs his friend.

They sit there for a moment longer before pulling away, both of them puffy eyed and sniffing.

Keith makes his way to his feet and helps Lance up, "We should probably get back to the others."

Lance nods and uses the back of his hand to wipe at his eyes, "Y-Yeah." He says quietly before following Keith down the long hallway.

oOOo

"Did it work?" Lance hears as he enters the room with Keith.

"I don't know yet, she's still slightly dazed." Allura answers from where she's bent down in front of Pidge, who is sitting on the steps with a blank expression.

"Is she supposed to be reacting like this?" Hunk asks, unaware of the two paladin's entering since his back is facing the entryway.

"Possibly? I've never actually done this before." Allura responds, her face pinched in worry.

"You've never _done this before_??" Hunk gasps, raising a hand to his head.

"Well I- no but Coran helped me and he's very efficient with these types of things so.. um.." Allura trails off as she straightens up and clasps her hands, her eyes drifting over to where Keith and Lance are.

"Oh, you're here." She sighs as she walks over to them. She places a hand on Lance's arm, "How are you feeling?"

Lance stares at her for a second before answering, "I'm good." He answers curtly, his gaze leaving her and landing on Pidge, "How is she?" He asks, changing the topic.

Allura frowns, "We just gave her the tonic but it seems to have left her in a sort of daze state and- oh my goodness, Keith, your shoulder!" Allura gasps as she moves over to the other paladin.

Keith's gaze snaps to Allura and then to his shoulder, "Oh yeah, it's just a small-"

"Don't say that, It's clearly not small and we need to get you cleaned up immedia-" Allura begins but is cut off by a yell.

"Lance!" Pidge yells, breaking from her daze and jumping forwards so quickly that she almost falls as she looks around.

"Pidge??" Lance asks as he quickly moves over to her, stopping just in front of her as she looks up at him.

Pidge latches onto him without hesitation, causing Lance to stumble slightly.

"You're okay!" She cries, her voice muffled by his armor as she hugs him.

Lance lets out a laugh of relief as he returns the hug, burying his face in her hair.

Pidge pulls away and stares at him, her eyes shining, "If you ever do anything like that again- so help me." She says through clenched teeth but her attempt at being stern fails as she smiles again and punches Lance on the arm.

"Hey!" Lance huffs but grins nonetheless.

"Oh thank the gods it worked." Coran breathes from where he is at the control panel, many small bottles of different liquids surrounding him.

"How are you feeling? Are you dizzy? Is anything fuzzy? Do you-" Allura begins but then Pidge looks at her with a grin and she stops.

"I'm fine, Allura." She reassures the princess.

Allura nods and a smile tugs at her lips, "Good. Good... that's wonderful." She sighs as she looks over the paladins, "We're alright.." Her voice is so small that Lance hardly catches it.

Lance jumps as a hand lands on his shoulder. He looks over and sees Shiro standing next to him, his face pinched in an expression that Lance can't read.

"Shiro?" Lance asks as he looks up at him.

"We need to talk." Shiro says quietly.

"Shiro, how about we wai-" Hunk says as he steps closer to Lance.

Shiro shakes his head, "No, Hunk." He looks back at Lance, concern etching across his features, "We.. we just want to know how you're doing, Lance. How you're _really_ doing."

Lance blinks in surprise at Shiro, his throat suddenly dry. He looks over at Hunk, who's eyes are shining, causing Lance to deflate slightly at the thought that he caused that expression to be on his best friend's face.

"I.." Lance starts, looking over at Allura, who's face is covered in concern. He then looks down at Pidge, who gives a slight nod for him to continue. Lance glances over at Keith, who stares back at him with an expression that Lance has never seen before.

His chest is suddenly to tight and the room's to hot as he looks between all of the concerned faces aimed at him, "I don't.. I just-" Lance stutters as he tries to find better words than what he used before, his mind suddenly blank.

Lance shakes his head as tears appear in his eyes and he opens his mouth to say something but he never gets the chance before the alarms shoot off throughout the castle.

"You've got to be kidding me." Allura says as she pulls up a screen to display why the alarms are going off.

"What is it?" Shiro asks as he looks over at the hologram.

Allura's face hardens, "It's a distress signal from..." Allura stops as her eyes widen in shock.

"From where?" Lance asks, the worry building up inside of him projecting his shaking voice.

Allura looks over at him, "It's from Earth."

oOOo

 **Muahanahahaha I came back on the angst train, you're welcome :)**

 **SPOILERS**

 **Okay so I have some things to say about season six and the first is HELLO RED PALADIN KEITH IS BACK AND CLONE SHIRO IS GONE AND HOLY FRICK I LOVE HE BROGANES! Like what a good brotherly relationship, the heck?**

 **Second, that DnD episode was too good and Lance doing the "Why don't you just knock?" thing again ooooh I love him so much, can you tell?**

 **Third, Lance flat out SOBBING over not being able to not help Shiro when he reached out to him and then only getting a pat on the shoulder?? Like no, t a l k to him you twerps.**

 **There were so many amazing things about this season and I can confidently say that I'm not ready for season 7 because WE'RE GOING HOME**


	9. Chapter 9

**HELLOOO!! Well dang its been a hot minute since ive updated on here so how the hecky dizzle are you guys doing? still alive? still being the lovely, funky humans that you are? Good, good. that's swell.** **Ha** **anyway, season 7 was an emotional rollercoaster and i love Lance's family and uhm yeah okay im gonna write some angsty shiz now so lets go-**

oOOo

"What?" Hunk exclaimed the second after Allura stopped talking.

Allura just pulled up a screen of the distress signal in response.

"That's pinpointing the location from where the signal came from.." Pidge said as she stared at the screen in shock, her breathing shaking slightly.

"It's.." Shiro began softly before clearing his throat and trying again, "It's coming from the Garrison."

Lance's hands shook at his sides as his eyes locked onto the hologram of Earth that lay before him. A large red dot covered where the Garrison was on the planet.

Lance knew that the others were talking but he could only make out a low ring due to the pounding of his heart in his ears. The moment those words left Allura's mouth, he froze.

"-ance?" A hand on his shoulder made Lance jump and pulled him back to reality as his eyes focused on the concerned face that belonged to said hand.

"Are you okay?" Keith asked the question in such a way that Lance assumed that the boy had said his name a couple of times before he had made a response.

Lance shook his head slightly, his throat closing up and threatening to block off his air way. He opened his mouth to say something but ended up closing it again as he stared back at the planet.

His planet.

His home.

His home that was now under attack from lord knows what while he was galaxies away.

"When was the signal put out?" Shiro's voice suddenly cut through the tense silence as he stepped closer to the control panel.

"Uhm.. well due to the time differences.." Allura began quietly as her fingers glided over the panel in order to get an answer.

She stopped abruptly as a time appeared on the screen, "It was sent out about a.. what you would call a week ago."

"A _week_ ago?!" Pidge exclaimed, her voice unsteady, "Do you know how much could have happened in a week??"

"Allura, we need to get to Earth _immediately_." Shiro stated as he stared at the Princess.

Allura held his gaze before giving a curt nod and turning towards the controls, "I'll get the ship ready for a wormhole, meanwhile you all need to go get ready for whatever we're about to be met with on Earth." Her voice was chillingly steady as she spoke.

"Come on, team." Shiro waved his hand for the paladins to follow him as he headed towards the hangars.

Keith's grip on Lance's shoulder tightened when the blue paladin made no move to leave the room, "Lance?"

Keith placed both his hands on either side of the boy before shaking him slightly, "Hey, are you _okay_?"

Lance's eyes quickly snapped from the picture of Earth to Keith as he unintentionally answered, "Yeah."

Keith blinked at him, his eyebrows arched, "You sure?"

Lance spared a glance towards the planet one more time before looking back to Keith, "Um.. I- we should go to-to the lions." Before Keith could interject, Lance had shaken him off and headed towards his lions hangar.

Keith stood there for a second before quickly following.

oOOo

Lance's fingers twitched as he held his helmet in front of him. He stared at the newly fixed visor and repared shell with a tight feeling in his chest.

He took a deep breath before reaching up to place it over his head. Lance stopped breathing for a moment as he clicked the helmet into place, half of himself expecting the screen to cover up with ice any second.

"Lance, you there buddy?" Hunk's voice filtered through the comms, causing Lance to immediately let out the breath that he didn't know he was holding.

"Y-yeah, I'm here." Lance answered as he looked up at his lion before walking towards her.

"Okay.. thats good um just.. say something if you um.." Hunk trailed off as he searched for the right words.

Lance guiltily felt a pang of annoyance at his friend as he entered his lion, "Sure thing, Hunk."

Lance sat down in the pilots chair and felt his breath hitch as he looked through Blue's eyes. He felt a cold chill run down his back, causing him to grip onto the controls tight enough for his fingers to go numb.

"Lance?" Pidge asked when she noticed Lance's labored breathing in the back of the comms.

"Hm?" Lance responded, not trusting himself to open his mouth at that moment.

"Are you sure you're good?" Her voice seemed hesitant as she spoke.

The familiar annoyed burn fluttered through Lance, " _Yes_." He answered curtly.

"Lance, it's okay if you're not-" Shiro began but was cut off by Lance.

"I said I'm fine!" His voice came out louder than he meant it to but his words kept falling out of his mouth nonetheless, "Jesus, all I'm doing is sitting in my lion! Lay off!"

The comms went silent for a second before Shiro spoke again, "We're just worried about you, Lance."

"Well knock it off! You weren't worried before so why the hell are you guys suddenly so worried about me now? We're not even doing anything and you're acting like I'm about to shatter into pieces!" Lance yelled through the comms as he gripped onto the controls harder.

He was met with stunned silence again, the only sound being his unsteady breathing.

Hunk talked first, "We.. I.. Lance.." His words caught in his throat as they hesitantly left his mouth.

Lance almost laughed, "See? You don't know what to say because you know it's true! You guys didn't pay attention to me before and you're only just now saying something because I _almost died_!" Lance was yelling before he could understand what he was saying,

"I don't need you guys to constantly be babysitting me all of sudden, because I was able to handle it before so I can fucking handle it now, okay? Someone had to _point it out_ to you before you even said anything! Just ignore it, you've already done it so perfectly before!" Lance's voice broke as his eyes filled with hot, unwelcome tears that fell down his face.

He angrily wiped at them with back of his hands as he finally let go of the controls.

A choked sob escaped his throat, causing Lance to clasp a hand over his mouth as he wiped at his eyes with the other.

The comms filled with the shocked silence of the other paladins as they processed what he said.. and how it all made sense.

"Lance.." Keith began quietly as he broke the unrelenting silence.

"Shut up! Just shut up, please, shut up!" Lance cried as he ripped his helmet off and threw it to the ground.

He let out a yell as he leaned forward and slammed his hands onto the panel in front of him.. again.. and again.. and again.

He kicked one of the controls with a scream before getting up and making his way behind the pilots chair before falling to his knees. His fists collided with the floor as he bent low to the ground, a scream escaping his throat.

Lance's scream faded to a raspy cry as he placed his forehead on the cool surface of the cockpit, tears streaming down his face.

His shoulders shook as he let out all the anger that he had with himself and this whole shit show of a situation that he ended up in.

Lance choked out a breath when he heard the doors to the lion open. He didn't lift his head as he felt their footsteps thud on the floor before stopping so they could kneel next to him.

He curled into himself as he felt a smaller pair of feet cross the floor before stopping in front of him. He tensed up as they too kneeled down and placed their hands on his shoulders.

"Lance?" Hunk's voice sounded distant and timid as he spoke his friends name.

"Lance.. please.. look up, please." Pidge's voice came out strained and far too small than she wanted it to be.

Due to the fact that both of them sounded like they were on the brink of tears, Lance slowly lifted his head and was met with Pidge's red rimmed, bright hazel eyes.

He glanced over to Hunk, who wore the same expression.

Lance felt his bottom lip tremble before throwing himself in between them, his arms wrapping around both of them.

They returned the action without hesitation, tears finally falling from their eyes.

"We got you buddy.." Hunk whispered, his voice barely audible.

"I'm sorry." Pidge cried as she burried her face into Lance's hair.

Lance shook his head, "Don't be.." His voice was muffled but Pidge could still make out how it broke.

Lance pulled back but kept a firm grip on their hands, "I- I didn't mean any of that- I don't know why I said that because I know you guys care and I-" Lance's voice was shaking so badly that it forced him to stop.

Hunk shook his head, "No.. no, you were right.. I mean, you're my bestfriend and I.. I didn't even notice a-and that sucks and I am _so_ sorry, Lance. Be-because you've always- _always_ been there for us and we're never there for you and that- that just-" Hunk's body shook as tears fell down his face.

"It's terrible." Pidge said quietly as she looked up at Lance, "It's terrible, okay? We.. we should've never believed that that was okay because.. you don't deserve that and we.. we love you okay?" Pidge's voice broke as she reached up and cupped the side of Lance's face with her free hand, "We love you and we won't ever let you go again."

Lance stared at her in shock before looking over at Hunk and then back at Pidge. He just gave a small shake of his head before falling into her, his free arm wrapping around Hunk as the yellow paladin held onto both of them.

They sat there in the cockpit of the blue lion for what seemed like ages. So long that they didn't notice when Keith and Shiro came in and joined them.

"I love you guys, too." Lance's voice was muffled by Pidge's shoulder, but seemed so loud to those that he was saying it to.

They slowly broke apart, but kept their arms around eachother as they took a minute to breathe.

"You okay?" Hunk asked Lance quietly.

Lance gave him a sad smile, "I will be."

Hunk nodded before looking over to Shiro.

The black paladin stared back before looking over his team.

Before looking over his family.

"Alright." He said softly, "Let's go save our home."

oOOo

"Paladins?" Allura's voice cut through the comms after everyone was situated again, "Are you ready?"

There was a hesitating silence before Shiro said the words that everyone was thinking, "Well, we'll just have to see when we get there."

Allura let out a soft laugh, "I guess we will."

"Alright Paladins, the wormhole is opening so once we make our way through, it is best that you stay in the Castle of Lions until Allura and I have surveyed the situation, alright?" Coran instructed, his voice calmingly steady.

"Alright." Shiro responded, "Let's go home."

"Entering the wormhole in 3.. 2.. 1.." Allura counted off before the castle lurched through the opening, causing the tension to build even more throughout the team.

"We're here." Was all Coran said before the comms went silent while he and Allura worked.

"What.. what do you think happened?" Hunk asked quietly as the paladins waited.

"I don't know.. I've been trying to get in contact with the Garrison but.. the signals all messed up." Pidge answered, strain and frustration leaking into her words.

"I'm sure that whatever it is, we'll be able to handle it. Together." Shiro said.

"I hope so.." Lance all but whispered, his shoulders tense as he tapped his foot impatiently on the floor.

"You don't think.." Keith started but then cut himself off before he could continue the thought.

"Think what?" Pidge asked.

Keith sighed, "I just.. you don't think it's the Galra, right?"

His question was met with a relentless silence that hung in the air.

"It could be. But whatever it is.. we can beat it." Shiro responded after moment.

Lance nodded along with Shiro's words, his throat going dry at how _possible_ it was that the Galra had gone for Earth.

"Paladins?" Coran spoke suddenly, making Lance jump slightly.

"Yes, what do you see?" Shiro asked.

Coran was quiet for a second, "Well that's the thing.. we don't see anything."

"Sorry?" Pidge asked.

"Well, there's nothing around the planet and we can't see what's happening _on_ the planet so if you go out there.. you'll be going in blind." Allura answered.

Lance tried to swallow the lump in his throat before he spoke timidly, "Well it's better now than never, right?"

"Right." Shiro began, "We don't know why Earth is under attack but we do know that they need our help so.. we get down there and we do just that."

"Well, let's go save our home then." Pidge stated as she powered on her lion.

"Did anyone else always have a sort of hunch that we'd have to do this eventually or is that just me?" Hunk asked as he tightened his grip on yellow's controls.

"Earth is a part of the universe so, I guess it's crossed my mind a couple of times." Keith answered him, shifting in his seat as he prepared himself to leave.

Lance nodded and cleared his throat, "Yeah, me too.. but I never actually thought that we'd have to actually do it though."

"Well, Earth is our home.. and as Voltron, we are sworn to defend it." Shiro's voice came through the comms steadily, "So let's get down there and make whoever's attacking it regret even thinking about going to Earth."

"We'll be right behind you." Allura said as the lions began to take off.

Lance took in a deep breath as he tightened his grip on Blue's controls, "Let's go, girl."

oOOo

Blue kept up a steady hum in the back of Lance's mind as he flew her towards Earth.

"God, I've missed this." Pidge breathed as they entered Earth's atmosphere.

"Your planet is beautiful, Paladins." Allura sighed as she flew the castle after the lions.

"It's too bad that we're not coming back to it on better terms." Hunk said quietly as he flew Yellow in the direction of the Garrison.

"You think Iverson will be mad at us for just kinda.. dropping out?" Lance asked, his nervousness causing him to resort to a lame attempt at humor in order to lessen the tension.

To Lance's relief, Pidge let out a soft laugh, "He would be the type of guy to be pissed at some cadets for leaving the school in order to save the universe."

"So he hasn't changed, then?" Keith asked.

"Nope. He's still the same tense bag of beans that we know and love." Hunk responded lightly.

"I'm sorry, Iverson is..?" Coran asked.

"Just this guy in charge of the cadets.. you know, acts like he was more power than he ever will and stuff like that." Pidge answered him.

"Ah.. I knew someone like that." Coran sighed.

"You're not talking about Lixen, are you?" Allura asked, a slight chuckle breaking through her words.

"Oh you know I am, Allura." Coran laughed.

"I think we all know people like that, honestly." Shiro said softly as they neared the Garrison.

The short light hearted feeling in the air soon dissolved as they came close enough to the ground to see what had become of the planet.

"Oh my God.." Pidge breathed as her eyes flittered over the ground.

Lance felt his breath hitch as he took in what he knew to be the Garrison. What was once a clean, well constructed building, was now one of flames and destruction.

"How..?" Hunk asked as they flew the lions to the ground, "What did _this_??"

"I thought the Garrison had a defense system, how is it just.. half of it's gone.." Keith stuttered as Red hit the ground, kicking up dust and rubble.

"There's only one way to find out." Shiro stated before exiting his lion.

Lance blinked before processing what he had said and following him.

"Allura and Coran, stay in the Castle and keep a look out for anything." Shiro instructed as he stepped onto the dirt.

"Be careful." Allura responded.

Lance felt a gasp escape his lips when he was able to see the Garrison clearly. His feet moved automatically over the dirt as he followed the rest of the team to the building.

"It looks like half of the building is still operational, save for some burn marks that could've came from lasers.. or bombs." Shiro said his thoughts aloud as they neared the entrance.

"Jesus.." Pidge muttered as she stepped over a piece of rubble. Her eyes fluttered over the field in front of the school before falling on something that made her gasp and stumble backwards.

Lance grabbed onto her shoulders as she collided into him, "Pidge, what-" He cut off as he looked up and caught sight of what she was looking at, "Oh my god.."

"Um, guys?" Lance called to the others, who were a bit in front of him and Pidge.

"Yeah?" Hunk asked as he turned around.

Lance just pointed across the field.

Hunk followed his gaze and felt his heart drop.

At the far edge of the field lay what was undoubtedly a crumpled galra ship. And laying beside it in a heap was a body.

It's pilot.

"Shit." Keith muttered as he reached down for his bayard.

"We- come on we have to get inside, now." Shiro instructed as he headed towards the doors quickly.

"Come on." Lance's voice was barely audible as he grabbed Pidge's hand and raced to follow the others.

"Th-that was a Galra ship!" Pidge suttered as they made their way into the dim building.

"Yeah I-I kind of figured that out.." Lance muttered as his heart pounded in his chest.

"What do we do what do we do what do we-" Hunk rambled as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Hunk." Shiro stopped the paladin as he spoke, "What we need to do is stay calm and try to find someone to talk to."

"Right. Right, of course that makes sense. It's just um this is a lot a-and my family's here and I don't know if they're okay or if-" Hunk took a deep breath as Lance placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Breathe, buddy. We.. we'll figure it out soon, okay? We just need to keep walking." Lance's voice was low as he spoke to his friend.

Hunk nodded and breathed in through his noss before nodding again.

"Okay.. let's go." Shiro said as he waved his hand forward.

Lance squeezed Hunk's shoulder reassuringly before following Shiro down the dark hallway.

The group walked in silence, the only sound being there feet crunching over broken glass and rubble.

Lance subconsciously formed his bayard in his gun as they walked through the empty hallways.

"I'm picking up heat signatures to the left." Pidge said suddenly from where she walked in the back of the group.

"How many?" Shiro asked, looking back to her.

Pidge was silent for a moment before she looked up at him, "Hundreds."

Lance's eyes widened as he looked at Pidge and then the screen projecting from her arm plate, "C-can you tell.. uh, what kind of signatures they are?" He asked hesitantly.

Pidge hummed in response while she typed something in. Her shoulders relaxed slightly as she let out a sigh, "They're human."

Lance breathed out as Shiro spoke again, "Well, let's go find them, then." He said before walking towards where Pidge said that the signatures were.

As they neared the left of the hallway, Lance began to hear muffled voices coming through the walls.

"They're on the main deck." Keith stated as they turned and were met with a pair of large, double doors.

"I'm guessing that the Garrison is being used as a safe place, right? I mean it's a military base so they have like, bunkers and stuff ready for.. Endoftheworldscenarios.." Hunk sighed as he put away his bayard.

Shiro nodded at what Hunk said before stopping in front of the doors.

"So.. should we knock?" Lance asked.

Pidge chuckled, "You would think to knock."

Lance motioned towards the doors in exasperation, "Well it worked for Blue."

"These are two completely different things." Keith pointed out.

Lance opened his mouth to say something back but was cut off by a raised voice behind the doors.

"This is war, Iverson! I am trained to deal with these types of things whether we understand what's happening or not, understood?" A woman snapped.

The room grew quiet before muttering broke out.

"Okay.. I guess now is a good time to go in..?" Lance asked as he motioned towards the doors again.

"That would be ideal." Shiro answered as he reached down to pull the door open.

But just as his hand touched the handle, a large explosion was heard in the distance before the building trembled for a moment.

"What the _hell_?" Lance asked as he looked around.

"It's another attack- everyone to the bunkers!" The woman yelled before her voice was overpowered by the hundreds of people yelling over one another.

"Guys, step back-" Shiro began as he pushed the team back with his arm before the double doors bursted open, revealing the flushed faces of the people packed inside.

The people stared at them for a second before pushing their way through the doors and in the direction of the bunkers.

"Everyone stay together!" Shiro yelled as he tried his best to push the paladins away from the river of people flowing out of the doors.

Lance turned to follow the others as they veered out of the way of the people, but his foot caught on a piece of rubble and he stumbled to the ground.

" _Shit_." Lance cursed as his knees skimmed over the ground before he picked himself up again. Someone bumped into his shoulder as he stood up, "Sorry." Lance called after the person as he tried to reorient himself.

Lance felt sweat break out across his neck as he realised that he was now in the middle of the swarm of people that were pushing him in the opposite direction of his team.

The building trembled once more, causing screams to erupt through the crowd before they began moving faster in their haste to get to safety.

"Wait- excuse me- I have to-" Lance stuttered as he tried to move through the crowd.

"Get out of the way!" A panicked man yelled as he shoved past Lance, knocking the paladin into the wall.

"S-sorry- I just-" Lance was cut off by the pounding in his ears as the hallway became too hot and crowded far too fast.

The yelling of the terrified people only grew as the building shook enough for parts of the ceiling to fall.

Lance lurched forward and pushed a child out of the way of a fallen piece of concrete before returning them to their family, "Everyone, watch out!" Lance yelled as he formed his bayard and shot at the falling pieces of debris.

He felt his heart jump as the shaking building made him stumble forward. On instinct, Lance formed his shield and held it over a family as another chunk of the ceiling fell.

"Go go go-" He urged the family as he pushed the debris off to the side, allowing them to move on to safety.

Lance veered out of the way of a different family as they ran passed him. The voices and screams of the crowd grew as more and more people pushed themselves out of the doors.

Lance pushed himself up against a wall in an attempt to get out of the way as they pushed past him. His heart pounded in his chest as he looked around for his friends or even a room for him to escape to.

His breathing became uneven as Lance tried to make himself walk towards where he last saw his team running to. The sea of people scrambled past him, some pulling them with him in the process.

"Sorry! Excuse me- I'm sorry, I just- I need- Hey, LOOK OUT!" Lance's pleads to get through the crowd were cut off as his voice grew into a yell.

He lunged towards a small child, tucking them into his chest as he pushed people out of the way with his shield before a part of the ceiling fell on to where they were just standing.

Lance let out a breath of relief as he looked down at the toddler he was still holding. The little girl looked up at him with big, scared eyes.

"H-hey are you okay?" He asked quietly as he released her.

She kept a firm grip on his arm as she nodded slightly before looking around. A soft whimper released her mouth as her bottom lip trembled.

"Oh no, hey, it's alright! Are you looking for your parents- were you with them?" Lance asked as he gently pulled her out of the way of the crowd.

The little girl nodded again, "Mommy."

"Your mom? Okay, you can stay with me while I help you find her, is that alright?" Lance asked as he reached over and wiped a tear off of her cheek.

She nodded again before latching her arms around his neck.

Lance offered her a soft smile as he lifted her while he stood up.

"Just hang tight kiddo, we'll find your mom." He said to her as he began walking forward with the rest of the people heading towards the bunkers.

Lance subconsciously rubbed the little girls back gently as she buried her face into his neck, her body trembling slightly.

Looking down at her, Lance got an idea, "So.. we never introduced ourselves, I'm Lance, what's your name?" He asked as they made their way through the winding hallways, the distant explosions making her tense up.

"Mia." She answered quietly.

"Mia? That's a pretty name. How old are you, Mia?" Lance asked, a grin growing on his face as the little girl relaxed a little.

"I'm almost this many." She said proudly as she held up four fingers.

"Almost four? Oh my goodness, that's amazing!" Lance gasped in awe at her as she let out a giggle. He smiled at her before making his way down the steps with everyone else.

"Are you a superhero?" Mia asked.

Lance looked down at her, "A superhero?"

Mia nodded and then tapped his chest plate, "Yeah. You have a supersuit so.. you're a superhero? Coming to stop the bad guys?"

Lance's heart swelled as he watched the awe grow in her round eyes, "Well, yeah. You can call me a superhero. I'm actually a paladin Voltron. It's this big robot that defends the Universe from bad guys."

Mia gasped as she listened to him talk about Voltron and Space and Aliens, "Woah.. I wanna be a paladin!" She exclaimed after he had finished, her eyes wide.

Lance stared at her as she looked back at him in amazement. He smiled widely as a warm feeling grew within him, "Well, Mia, maybe someday you will be. But you don't need Voltron to be a paladin; you can be one right now. You can help people here and be you're own superhero. The best superhero around."

Mia giggled before she puffed out her chest and raised her little fist, "I'm gonna protect Earth!" She yelled before jumping into a ramble of all the things she would do to help.

As she spoke, Lance's smile grew as she excitedly told him how she's always wanted to be a superhero. In a way, she reminded him of himself when he was younger.

Lance looked up as the crowd slowed down in order to enter the bunker doors. A feeling of unease flooded over Lance as the lights flickered and dust fell from the ceiling.

"Lance?" Mia asked as she watched him look around.

"Yeah?" He asked as he looked back at her.

"You're gonna save Earth, right?" She asked quietly.

Lance stared at her for a moment before nodding, "Of course I will. The team and I will stop the bad guys and then you'll be able to go home."

Mia blinked at him and then let out a sigh as she rested her head against his shoulder, "Bad guys took my home away.." She whispered before going silent.

Lance felt his heart break as he tightened his hold on Mia. He tried to swallow the lump in his throat before continuing forward through the crowd.

"Don't worry, Mia. Everything will be okay soon." He told her quietly as he scanned over the never ending swarm of people.

"I know.. you'll save everyone..just like a superhero." Mia responded, her small hand tapping the emblem on his chest again.

Lance rubbed her back, "Yeah.."

As he walked through the doors, Lance felt his breath hitch as his eyes fell open the seemingly endless rows upon rows of bunkbeds.

He watched as all of the families made their way to their bunks, quiet mummering spread throughout them all.

"Mommy?" Mia asked suddenly as she sat up.

"Do you see your mom?" Lance asked as he lifted her higher so she could look through the crowd.

Mia nodded as she pointed down the staircase to a woman with blonde hair. She was making her way through the crowd, her face panicked.

"Mommy!!" Mia called, making the woman stop and look around frantically.

"Mia, whats her name??" Lance asked as he tried to move past the people going down the stairs.

"Sophie!" Mia answered him.

"Sophie!!" Lance yelled as he ran down the staircase, careful not to knock anyone over.

Sophie whipped around at the sound of her name, a relieved cry escaping her mouth as she layed eyes on her daughter.

"Mia!" She cried as she rushed forward and took her up in her arms, holding her tightly as tears fell from her eyes.

Lance let out a breath as he watched Mia hug her back, her little hands playing with her mother's hair.

Sophie looked up from her child and at Lance, her face kind, "Thank you, thank you so much!"

Lance nodded and smiled as his face flushed.

"Attention the bunker doors are now closing, everyone stand clear." A voice suddenly boomed throughout the room.

Lance felt his heart drop as he caught sight of the huge metal doors slowly sliding shut.

"I have to go- take care, okay?" Lance said hurriedly as Mia turned towards him.

"Go superhero!" Mia called after him as Lance ran up the stairs.

Despite his haste to get to the closing doors, Lance waved after her before taking the steps two at a time.

"Sorry, boys- maybe another time!" Lance said as he skidded under the arms of a couple of guards trying to stop him from leaving the safe room.

Lance pushed himself off of the ground and through the gap between the two doors just as they were closing. He stumbled to the floor as the doors shut with a loud band.

Brushing himself off, Lance stood up and stared at the closed doors for a moment before hurrying up the steps.

Lance jumped over fallen pieces of debris as he ran up the stairs, his heart pounding.

He reached the top of the stairs and let out a yell of surprise as he ran into someone. Lance almost fell back down the stairs but said someone grabbed his hand and pulled him into the hallway.

Lance stumbled forwards and bumped shoulders with the owner of the hand, which was still clasped around his own.

"Keith?" Lance asked as he looked at the red paladin.

"Where did you go??" Keith asked, his brows arched in worry.

Lance swallowed dryly as he stared at Keith's expression, "Uh.. I um- there was just a lot of people and I kinda got swept away.." He answered awkwardly, his eyes drifting down to their tightly clasped hands.

Keith followed his gaze and pulled his hand away quickly as if he just noticed what it was holding.

"Oh.. I just thou- We thought something bad had happened and um.." Keith explained as he looked up at Lance, which he immediately regretted because that boy was _staring_ at him with a damn _look_.

Lance blinked before clearing his throat, "No- no, I'm fine.. I um.. where's everybody else?" He asked.

Keith stepped back a little as he motioned down the hallway, "Looking for you and Pidge."

"What- what happened to Pidge??" Lance asked immediately.

"Same thing as you- but we found her and she's fine- it's fine- we're all fine." Keith suttered, internally cursing his ability to talk like a normal fucking person.

The feeling of tension left Lance almost as quickly as it came, "Okay.. that's good.. that's good.." He sighed as he rubbed at his eyes with his hand, "So where's everyone now?"

"Shiro and Pidge are in this room we found while Hunk and I have been looking for you." Keith answered as he began walking down the hallway.

Lance quickly followed him, his throat going dry as he looked around the collapsing ceiling and walls.

"Lance!" Upon hearing his name, Lance turned around only to be met with a mass of yellow as Hunk hugged him.

"Oh, hey buddy." Lance said, his voice muffle by Hunk's armor.

Hunk pulled him back suddenly and looked him over before he released Lance, "Oh god, I was so worried. You and Pidge just disappeared and we thought that you two were together but then we found Pidge alone and you weren't answering your comms and I thought something had happened and-"

"Hunk." Lance stopped his friend from rambling as he placed a hand on his shoulder, "I'm okay, I just got swept away with all of those people."

Hunk relaxed as he let out a sigh, "I know, I know. I'm just on edge.." He said as they continued down the hallway with Keith.

"We all are." Lance told him.

Hunk just nodded.

After a moment of walking in silence, the trio reached a door, in which was jerked open as they neared it.

Keith and Hunk entered and Lance made to follow him but was stopped as a flash of green ran at him.

Pidge buried her face in his chest and wrapped her arms around his middle the moment Lance was in the doorway.

"Stop disappearing." Pidge said quietly, her voice muffled.

Lance hugged her back and ruffled her hair as she pulled away, "Sorry, Pidgeon, I'll try not to."

Pidge looked up at him for a moment before visibly relaxing, "You better." She mumbled before allowing him to enter the room.

Shiro sighed in relief as he turned around, "Oh thank God, we're all here."

Lance took off his helmet to wipe the sweat off of his forehead as he took in a deep breath before nodding.

"So.. what do we do now?" Hunk asked Shiro, who opened his mouth to say something but stopped when he looked towards the doorway.

Lance gave him a confused look but went rigid as he felt a cold rim pressed to the back of his head.

He froze, his eyes trained on the ground as a voice behind him spoke, "Who the _hell_ are you?"

oOOo

 **Muhahahahahahaha..**

 **So I talked to my friend about this chapter and she suggested the whole Lance getting lost in the crowd thing and then Keith finding him and stuff and I was like oh yes and she just goes, "ie, the gay." And so I just had to do it to em.**

 **Alsooo, Klance is like the only un-platonic relationship happening as of right now, but feel free to tell me about any other ships ya wanna see.**

 **Oh I have so many ideas for this story and god dang get ready for the McClain fam bc they're a cominggg**


	10. Byeee

**HELLO!! Ok so I moved this story over to archive, where I will be posting from now on so if you would like to keep reading it you can find it over there! I'm more active on archive and y'all can find me @irondad-spiderson-duo if you wanna see 7th Wheel, which I'm still updating even though season 8 is out, oof. The heck? Anyway,** **Happy Trails!**


	11. my b y'all

Okokokokok so my archive username is actUalLy irondad_spiderson_duo with underscores instead of dashes my b y'all my b


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